Former champion Shahid edges fifth seed Sohail in National Snooker

KARACHI: Former champion Shahid Aftab edged out fifth seed Sohail Shahzad while sixth seed Muhammad Ijaz cracked a sensational break of 136 on the second day of preliminary round matches of the Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship 2020 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Sohail was the lone seeded cueist to fall on the first couple of days as Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Ijaz, Babar Masih and Naseem Akhtar managed to win both their matches.

Sohail, having pulled it back from a precarious position in his opening match, was at the receiving end in another seven-frame duel against the vastly experienced Shahid.

Top seeded Asif, also the reigning world champion, didn’t take long in taming Saqib Bashir, a qualifier from Balochistan, who lost the opening frame for arriving late.

Bilal, second seed and defending champion, who had struggled to win his opening game, was in complete control while blasting the dangerous Ahsan Javaid in straight frames.

Asjad, third seed, who had staged a magnificent comeback to overcome Asif Toba after a seven-frame thriller on the opening day, didn’t need to work that hard to overpower local qualifier Rizwan Hashmi.

Sajjad, fourth seed and a former champion, who had started his campaign with a straight-frame victory the other day, dropped a couple of frames before taming local challenger Meesam Zaidi.

Sixth seed Ijaz, who smashed his rival in straight frames on the opening day, chalked up a magnificent break of 136 in the fourth frame while routing Usman Ahmed, a qualifier from Khyber Pakhtunkwa.

Seventh seed Babar, having whipped Muhammad Ali of Sindh in straight frames, compiled breaks of 60, 113 and 60 in successive frames in the process of blanking Ahmed Shah of Balochistan 4-1.

Eighth seed Naseem, whose 97 had remained the highest break of the opening day, fired three half-century breaks while smashing Abdul Ghafoor of Balochistan in straight frames.

Results: Rana Irfan (Pjb) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-0 (88-9, 76-6, 52-35, 53-36); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Muhammad Ali (Sindh) 4-0 (59-38, 80-0, 72-60, 62-58); Majid Ali (NBP) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (36-75, 65-46, 17-61, 26-63, 78-44, 86-8, 51-41); Zubair Tahir (Pjb) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-3 (39-19, 43-44, 40-51, 53-45, 65-37, 43-54, 63-56); Muhammad Bilal (SBP) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-0 (59-11, 61-35, 69-36, 61-7); Saad Khan (KP) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-0 (52-11, 66-33, 64-45, 63-29); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-0 (88-0, 93-22, 73-6, 99-8); Muhammad Asif (NBP) bt Saqib Bashir (Bal) 4-1 (1-0, 60-61, 85-2, 115, 78-19); Sheikh Mudassir (SBP) bt Muhammad Nazeer (Pjb) 4-2 (43-72, 73-29, 57-58, 59-25, 115-5, 61-34); Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (21-78, 65-28, 65-42, 37-49, 58-32, 79-8); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-2 (25-62, 95-13, 65-36, 85-0, 52-58, 80-1); Umar Farooq (Pjb) bt Muhammad Imran (KP) 4-1 (82-29, 62-72, 67-53, 72-25, 80-10); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar Khan (Isb) 4-1 (65-36, 68-10, 40-65, 82-0, 71-16); Asjad Iqbal (NBP) bt Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-2 (66-32, 35-69, 76-23, 64-25, 29-72, 72-5); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Umar Khan (Pjb) 4-2 (66-32, 35-69, 76-23, 64-25, 29-72, 72-5); Ali Haider (SBP) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-3 (54-13, 41-64, 59-68, 28-66, 80-6, 69-1, 53-39); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Usman Ahmed (KP) 4-1 (58-14, 96-1, 41-59, 136-0, 66-2); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Obaid Khan (Bal) 4-1 (48-57, 71-3, 131-0, 124-0, 58-1); Muhammad Ajmal (Pjb) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-3 (54-30, 65-15, 44-69, 34-50, 21-71, 65-51, 61-49); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (69-37, 41-67, 0-75, 53-87, 64-52, 74-55, 80-11); Ahsan Ramzan (SBP) bt Haris Tahir (NBP) 4-3 (45-71, 8-69, 82-8, 62-37, 69-9, 17-62, 42-40); Ali Hamza (Sindh) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-1 (89-49, 67-52, 33-66, 68-18, 61-13); Naseem Akhtar (NBP) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Bal) 4-0 (71-22, 71-31, 63-43, 79-16); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Muhammad Yaqoob (KP) 4-1 (48-21, 77-60, 73-15, 58-68, 85-41); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-1 (95-10, 52-64, 66-15, 113-9, 102-13); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ali (Sindh) 4-1 (69-25, 78-17, 49-65, 103-2, 54-44).