Shahid, Ijaz victorious 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 Shahzad was the lone seeded cueist to fall on the first couple days as the other seven seeds, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Ijaz, Babar Masih and Muhammad Naseem Akhtar, managed to win both their matches. Top seeded Muhammad Asif, also the reigning world champion, didn’t take long in taming Saqib Bashir, a qualifier from Balochistan, who was robbed of the opening frame due to late arrival at the arena.

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

Third seed Asjad Iqbal, 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 while overpowering local qualifier Rizwan Hashmi. Fourth seed and a former champion Muhammad Sajjad, who had started his campaign with a straight-frame victory the other day, dropped a couple of frames during the process of taming another local challenger Meesam Zaidi.

Fifth seed Sohail Shahzad, having pulled it back from a precarious position in his opening match, was at the receiving end in another seven-frame duel while taking on the vastly experienced Shahid Aftab.

Sixth seed Muhammd 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 (KP). Seventh seed Babar Masih, after having whipped Muhammad Ali of Sindh in straight frames, compiled breaks of 60, 113 and 60 in successive frame in the process of blanking Ahmed Shah of Balochistan 4-1. Eighth seed Muhammad Naseem Akhtar, 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. The participating 56 cueists, divided equally in eight groups, are inaction during preliminary rounds of the championship at the end of which the top two cueists from each group will be advancing to the knockout phase starting with pre-quarter-finals.

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); Muhammad 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 Muhammad 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 (KPK) 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 Muhammad 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 Zadi (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 Muhammad Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-2 (66-32, 35-69, 76-23, 64-25, 29-72, 72-5); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Muhammad Umar Khan (Pjb) 4-2 (66-32, 35-69, 76-23, 64-25, 29-72, 72-5); Ali Haider (SBP) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) 4-3 (54-13, 41-64, 59-68, 28-66, 80-6, 69-1, 53-39); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Usman Ahmed (KPK) 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); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (NBP) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Bal) 4-0 (71-22, 71-31, 63-43, 79-16); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Muhammad Yaqoob (KPK) 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).