National Snooker Championship: Mubashir storms into last 16

KARACHI: Unseeded Mubashir Raza stormed into the pre-quarter-finals of the Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship 2020 whose preliminary round matches will be concluded here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday (today).

11 of the 16 pre-quarter-finalist spots had been decided by the end of the penultimate day of league matches on Friday. Besides the seven seeded cueists, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Bilal, Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Ijaz, Babar Masih and Muhammad Naseem Akhtar, the unseeded quartet of Mubashir Raza, Hamza Akbar, Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Shahid Aftab have already secured their places in the knockout phase, starting on Sunday (tomorrow).

Top seeded Muhammad Asif, also the reigning world champion, has booked his berth in the top 16 by winning his first five matches in the Group A in which Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir and Jawed Ansari are in contention for the runner-up slot.

Second seed and defending champion Muhammad Bilal has advanced into the pre-quarters from the Group B after having triumphed in his first five matches with Aakash Rafique and Muhammad Ahsan Jawaid looking to grab the other spot.

Third seed Asjad Iqbal, with five straight victories, has sailed into the last 16 from the Group C where Ali Haider and Muhammad Umar Khan are pushing for the runner-up position.

Fourth seeded M Sajjad and unseeded Hmaza Akbar have qualified for the pre-quarter-finals from the Group D but fifth seed Sohail Shahzad finds himself in a spot of bother as unseeded Shahid Aftab, with five wins on a trot, has already cruised into the knockout rounds from Group E.

Results: Hamza Akbar (Pjb) bt Umar Farooq (Pjb) 4-2 (74-22, 62-67, 68-25, 16-67, 80-38, 68-48); Bahadur Khan (Bal) bt Meesam Zadi (Sindh) 4-0 (68-61, 56-26, 65-49, 73-0); Abdul Sattar Khan (Isb) bt Muhammad Imran (KP) 4-2 (75-0, 36-60, 54-17, 21-62, 61-19, 76-9); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Muhammad Umar Khan (Pjb) 4-1 (92-29, 54-58, 70-40, 89-0, 60-10); Shan Naimat (Isb) bt Muhammad Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-1 (48-66, 71-36, 66-1, 61-8, 58-15); Ali Haider (SBP) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-3 (54-82, 86-8, 62-34, 0-61, 45-48, 72-51, 63-55); Saad Khan (KPK) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-2 (74-22, 62-67, 68-25, 16-67, 80-38, 68-48); Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Munawar Khaliq (Isb) 4-1 (99-11, 66-54, 65-58, 34-57, 75-0); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-1 (73-19, 2-77, 112-19, 65-27, 61-1); Sheikh Muhammad Mudassir (SBP) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) 4-1 (69-8, 84-6, 23-59, 64-24, 64-39); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Saqib Bashir (Bal) 4-0 (85-2, 56-38, 56-22, 47-12); Jawed Ansari (Sindh) bt Muhammad Nazeer (Pjb) 4-1 (42-66, 55-19, 66-1, 75-29, 74-43); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (118-9, 59-42, 55-77, 48-78, 74-38, 69-0); Rana Irfan (Pjb) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Bal) 4-0 (99-32, 100-0, 98-8, 98-6); Aamir Shahzad (KPK) bt Muhammad Yaqoob (KP) 4-1 (68-20, 17-60, 69-47, 58-31, 75-61); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Ibrahim Khan (Bal) 4-1 (11-81, 57-48, 71-44, 89-40, 67-55); Khizar Aziz (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-2 (13-50, 55-17, 2-76, 54-45, 1-0, 1-0); Muhammad Ali (Sindh) bt Muhammad Majid Ali (NBP) 4-0 (43-31, 27-25, 50-6, 48-28); Muhammad Saleem (KP) bt Usman Ahmed (KP) 4-0 (73-9, 74-18, 85-0, 79-32); Ali Raza (Sindh) bt Obaid Khan (Bal) 4-2 (37-56, 86-8, 69-42, 23-52, 48-32, 56-6); Ali Hamza (Sindh) bt HarisTahir (NBP) 4-3 (19-58, 22-62, 1-88, 84-33, 66-12, 53-2, 65-36); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Zubair Tahir (Pjb) 4-1 (113-1, 61-59, 95-8(54), 47-62, 69-60); Ahsan Ramzan (SBP) bt Saif Ali Khan (Bal) 4-1 (68-32, 66-11, 56-61, 66-49, 50-2).