Ahsan upsets Bilal in Ranking Snooker

KARACHI: Schoolboy Ahsan Ramzan stunned fourth seed and the reigning national champion M Bilal on the penultimate day of league matches of the 3rd Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship 2019 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

The 14-year-old Ahsan, a class VIII student from Lahore, played exceptionally well to topple Bilal, regarded as one the most accomplished cueists of the country. The teenager signed off with a superb break of 80 to complete an incredible 4-1 victory. Defending champion Babar Masih became the first one to qualify for the quarter-finals and he was soon followed by unseeded Abdul Sattar and seventh seed M Ijaz. The other five quarter-final spots remained up for the grabs at the end of the penultimate day’s matches and they will be settled upon the conclusion of the remaining four league fixtures to be played in the morning session on Tuesday (today).

Draws will be taken out, in the presence of the participating cueists, for the knockout rounds and the quarter-finals will commence simultaneously later in the afternoon. Both the semifinals will be taking place on Wednesday (tomorrow) and the final will be held on Thursday.

There’s an interesting three-horse race between top seeded M Asif, eighth seed M Ahsan Javaid and three-time national champion M Sajjad to determine the two quarter-finalists from the Group A with virtually no chance left for the dangerous duo of Imran Shahzad and Shaikh M Mudassir. As seventh seed M Ijaz and defending champion Babar Masih have claimed the quarter-final berths from the Group B, the likes of Haris Tahir and Abu Saim had to face early elimination. Second seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir was not even in the race after having lost three of his four matches.

Unseeded Abdul Sattar has played extraordinary well in the Group C to qualify for the knockout rounds which means one of third seed Asjad Iqbal and sixth seed M Naseem Akhtar, who will be engaged in the do-or-die encounter today, will be going home early.

There’s an equally interesting situation in the Group D where the trio of fourth seed M Bilal, fifth seed Mubashir Raza and unseeded Sohail Shahzad is embroiled in a tense battle for the two places which meant premature exit for Shahid Aftab, a former national champion.

Results: Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb)bt M Bilal (Pjb) 4-1 (15-65, 64-52, 55-21, 58-13, 80-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-3 (11-68, 61-14, 77-29 (54), 115-0, 40-57, 31-73, 57-28); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Rashid Aziz (Pjb) 4-0

(57-36, 66-58, 61-9, 59-1); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-0

(82-12, 80-15, 72-36, 86-1); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt M Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-2

(15-102, 89-2, 68-61, 114-4, 26-63, 68-9); M Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-1 (12-67, 134-0, 71-61, 68-45, 53-40); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt M Shahbaz (Pjb) 4-1 (75-47, 63-31, 61-37, 15-89, 60-40); M Ijaz (Pjb) bt Sultan M (Sindh) 4-0 (82-0, 76-6, 79-16, 58-22); M Asif (Pjb) bt M Sajjad (Pjb) 4-2 (94-27, 69-9, 102-12, 23-105, 27-60, 68-6); M Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Sheikh M Mudassir (Pjb) 4-2 (64-55, 62-69, 65-15, 70-31, 72-60); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-2 (75-25, 8-67, 69-7, 62-61, 43-61, 79-55); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-1 (63-18, 130-8, 85-24, 45-72, 96-20); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) 4-0 (67-30, 69-34, 58-15, 60-8); Sheikh M Mudassir (Pjb) bt Imran Shahzad (Pjb) 4-3 (58-55, 58-15, 66-32, 17-70, 65-66, 62-73, 70-46); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Sultan M (Sindh) 4-2 (88-21, 84-49, 24-72, 58-66, 91-14, 133-8); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) 4-1 (17-73, 55-47, 79-1, 68-8, 55-1); M Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) bt Rashid Aziz (Pjb) 4-3 (53-58, 50-49, 67-15, 37-62, 37-69, 58-36, 56-38).