Former champion Hamza extends winning streak in National Snooker

KARACHI: Former champion Hamza Akbar extended his winning streak on the third day of preliminary round matches of the Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship 2020 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

The Faisalabad-born Hamza, who graduated to the professional arena after winning the 31st Asian Snooker Championship at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2015, has returned to the domestic circuit after a gap of five years.

Having already annexed the national title a couple of times early in his career, the 26-year-old prodigy has resumed his journey with a bang. With victories in both his league matches, he has laid a solid platform for moving ahead in the Nationals.

Meanwhile, all the seeded cueists consolidated their positions for securing their places in the knockout phase by overcoming their respective opponents.

Top seeded Muhammad Asif, also the reigning world champion, had some anxious moments after being tied at two-all by the local qualifer Jawed Ansari but won the last couple of frames to stay unbeaten after three matches.

Second seed and defending champion Muhammad Bilal was made to fight even harder by Aakash Rafique, a qualifier from Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP), but he stayed calm and composed until the end to pocket the seven-frame thriller.

Third seed Asjad Iqbal, who had staged a magnificent comeback to overcome Asif Toba after a seven-frame battle on the opening day, was in complete control while whacking Ali Haider in straight frames.

Muhammad Sajjad, fourth seed and former champion, was equally ruthless while thrashing Abdul Sattar Khan of Islamabad in straight frames, signing off with a classy break of 89.

Fifth seed Sohail Shahzad, having gone down fighting after a seven-frame duel with vastly experienced Shahid Aftab the other day, faced no problems in blasting Saif Ali Khan of Balochistan in straight frames.

Sixth seed Muhammd Ijaz, whose break of 136 remains the highest on the first three days of the competition, had to play a relatively cautious game to outwit Ali Raza, a qualifier from Sindh.

Seventh seed Babar Masih, having registered cakewalk victories in his first couple of outings, faced a fierce battle against the highly talented Majid Ali but he succeeded in edging out his dangerous rival.

Eighth seed Naseem Akhtar also maintained his unbeaten run by defeating Aamir Shahzad in another seven-frame encounter, settling the issue with a handsome break of 60.

Results: Majid Ali (NBP) bt Ibrahim Khan (Bal) 4-2 (128-0, 66-42, 35-75, 42-57, 69-47, 57-19); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-2 (63-24, 85-32, 6-101, 49-58, 78-9, 67-25); Naseem Akhtar (NBP) bt Aamir Shahzad (KP) 4-3 (54-14, 45-63, 11-62, 68-33, 76-28, 32-65, 86-6); Rana Irfan (Pjb) bt Muhammad Yaqoob (KP) 4-0 (walkover); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Bal) 4-0 (80-0, 79-9, 61-46, 78-46); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Majid Ali (NBP) 4-3 (69-34, 92-34, 90-1, 49-69, 58-68, 23-50, 97-4); Khizar Aziz (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ali (Sindh) 4-3 (72-22, 26-59, 42-78, 27-80, 57-17, 83-19, 69-58); Ahmed Shah (Bal) bt Ibrahim Khan (Bal) 4-3 (23-75, 61-72, 57-52, 27-71, 68-41, 63-42, 59-19); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-2 (56-36, 64-47, 36-66, 62-42, 50-77, 70-25); Muhammad Saleem (KP) bt Obaid Khan (Bal) 4-0 (63-18, 51-18, 73-29, 55-16); Muhammad Ajmal (Pjb) bt Usman Ahmed (KP) 4-1 (50-17, 57-7, 70-56, 39-71, 45-18); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-0 (61-13, 58-45, 70-23, 70-10); Ahsan Ramzan (SBP) bt Zubair Tahir (Pjb) 4-0 (51-43, 68-53, 62-49, 46-11); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Ali Hamza (Sindh) 4-1 (75-30, 66-31, 74-14, 62-71, 77-27); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Abdul Sattar Khan (Isb) 4-0 (79-9, 61-28, 59-43, 93-0); Muhammad Imran (KP) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-0 (63-56, 63-55, 72-15, 50-40); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-0 (85-0, 82-4, 55-24, 69-4); Asjad Iqbal (NBP) bt Ali Haider (SBP) 4-0 (91-14, 61-0, 57-10, 87-24); Shan Naimat (Isb) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-2 (37-48, 73-12, 74-1, 77-17, 15-88, 60-2); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-2 (10-59, 60-13, 61-0, 71-26, 1-67, 56-54); Munawar Khaliq (Isb) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-1 (43-72, 62-32, 55-47, 64-35, 46-37); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-0 (80-7, 66-28, 67-8, 72-0); Muhammad Asif (NBP) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (27-53, 66-27, 40-76, 66-49, 71-28, 70-34); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Muhammad Nazeer (Pjb) 4-3 (37-47, 53-60, 57-59, 70-18, 23-93, 61-49, 65-14); Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) bt Saqib Bashir (Bal) 4-1 (72-35, 64-25, 1-0, 30-79, 51-29); Muhammad Bilal (SBP) bt Aakash Rafique (KP) 4-3 (46-34, 97-0, 37-64, 32-67, 54-14, 27-67, 68-57).