Unseeded Ajmal shocks third seed Asjad

KARACHI: Unseeded Muhammad Ajmal shocked third seed Asjad Iqbal on the opening day of the 12th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2020 which cued off here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Tuesday.

Haris Tahir, another unseeded cueist, blew the whistle on eighth seed Ali Haider while the seeded quintet of Muhammad Asif, ShahidAftab, Muhammad Ahsan Javaid, Mubahsir Raza and Muhammad Naseem Akhtar opened their campaign with victories.

The draws have been revised following the last minute withdrawal of a couple of participants, Sohail Shahzad and Rambail Gul, and the 33 contestants have been divided in eight groups for the preliminary rounds at the end of which the top two cueists from each group will be advancing to the knockout rounds starting with the pre-quarter-finals.

The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) has allowed the cueists to participate in the event upon submission of negative reports of COVID-19 tests.

Defending champion and top seed Muhammad Asif meant business from the word go as he fired breaks of 78 and 82 in successive frames to topple Umar Farooq 4-1 while second seed Shahid Aftab blanked Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir in straight frames.

Third seed Asjad Iqbal was at the receiving end at the hands of Muhammad Ajmal losing the contest 3-4 while fourth seed Muhammad Ahsan Javaid whipped Ali Hamza in straight frames.

Sixth seed Mubahsir Raza opened his account by whacking Zubair Tahir in straight frames.

Seventh seed Muhammad Naseem Akhtar also blasted Umar Khan in straight frames but eighth seed Ali Haider was surprised by Haris Tahir in his opening game.

Results: Haris Tahir (NBP) bt Ali Haider (Pjb) 4-2 (2-79, 64-41, 69-17, 53-65, 80-0, 44-35); Muhammad Ajmal (Pjb) bt Asjad Iqbal (NBP) 4-3 (68-67, 46-57, 12-60, 38-73, 75-46, 68-11, 71-38); Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (NBP) bt Muhammad Umer Khan (Pjb) 4-0 (65-35, 79-39, 77-9, 70-18); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Hamza Akbar (Pjb) 4-3 (45-56, 57-58, 81-27, 69-26, 60-29, 12-63, 58-2); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-1 (77-45, 65-42, 49-67, 62-22, 88-51); Muhammad Asif (NBP) bt Umar Farooq (Pjb) 4-1 (102-0, 96-25, 1-67, 125-0, 90-6); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir (Pjb) 4-0 (56-25, 65-15, 56-49, 65-59); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Muhammad Ali (Sindh) 4-0 (84-36, 69-30, 75-23, 63-27); Muhammad Saleem (KP) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-0 (78-41, 67-17, 66-46, 68-26); Muhammad Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Ali Hamza (Sindh) 4-0 (68-3, 63-5, 57-12, 65-14); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-1 (1-0, 60-56, 64-14, 20-62, 83-0); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-0 (84-0, 67-38, 101-0, 71-14); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Zubair Tahir (Pjb) 4-0 (80-0, 80-7, 58-19, 86-1.

Today’s fixtures: Muhammad Naseem Akhtar (NBP) v Sharjeel Mahmood (KP); Rana Irfan (Pjb) v Muhammad Umar Khan (Pjb); Ali Haider (Pjb) v Agha Bilawal (Sindh); Aakash Rafique (KP) v HarisTahir (NBP); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) v Saad Khan (KP); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) v Zubair Tahir (Pjb); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) v Ali Hamza (Sindh); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) v Muhammad Majid Ali (NBP); Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) v Shaikh Muhammad Mudassir (Pjb); Hamza Akbar (Pjb) v Muhammad Umar Khan (Pjb); Rana Irfan (Pjb) v Sharjeel Mahmood (KP); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) v HarisTahir (NBP); Aakash Rafique (KP) v Agha Bilawal (Sindh).