Asif, Sajjad, Bilal, Haris in NBP Ranking Snooker semis

KARACHI: Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Sajjad, Muhammad Bilal and Haris Tahir advanced to the semifinals of the 12th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2020 as they overcame their respective opponents in the quarter-finals here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Sunday.

Both the semifinals will be taking place on Monday (today). Defending champion and top seed Muhammad Asif will take on three-time national champion Muhammad Sajjad, while Muhammad Bilal will be pitted against Haris Tahir, who has been the surprise packet of the event.

Interestingly, all the four quarter-finals produced different score-lines. Muhammad Asif whipped Sharjeel Mahmood 5-1, Muhammad Bilal trounced Muhammad Saleem 5-2, Muhammad Sajjad overcame Asif Toba 5-3 and Haris Tahir edged out Ahsan Ramzan 5-4.

The top seeded Asif, the reigning world champion besides being current national champion and holder of the NBP Ranking trophy, displayed his top form in routing unseeded Sharjeel 5-1 with the frame scores of 104-1, 139-0, 84-26, 63-29, 30-66, 77-0.

The master craftsman, hailing from the industrial city of Faisalabad, compiled breaks of 54, 108 and 68 in the first three frames and signed off with another mercurial break of 77 in the sixth frame.

Sajjad, another vastly experienced cueist, having won the national title three times, started off with an incredible break of 117 in the opening frame which was the highest of the day. He fired a break of 59 in the following frame but adjusted to cautious mode later, outwitting the dangerous Asif Toba 5-3 with the scores of 117-6, 123-0, 48-78, 60-29, 67-27, 0-62, 21-69, 84-32.

Muhammad Bilal, one of the most gifted potters of the country, showed flashes of brilliance while bulldozing the relatively inexperienced Muhammad Saleem 5-2 with the scores of 78-40, 8-62, 81-25, 8-52, 72-45, 62-2, 58-14.

The encounter between the unseeded Haris Tahir and Ahsan Ramzan was the only one to be extended to the full distance of nine frames.

Haris continued his brilliant run and edged out his threatening rival 5-4 with the frame scores of 58-9, 8-84, 69-33, 28-69, 63-8, 7-57, 54-14, 30-86, 71-0.