Muzammils steal limelight as Seagold U-17 Snooker begins

KARACHI: Muzammil Shaikh of Punjab and Muzammil Malik of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) stole the limelight on the opening day of the Seagold National Junior Under-17 Snooker Championship 2021 which cued off at the PSB Complex in Lahore on Saturday.

The two Muzammils won both their matches on the first day of the event, being contested by 15 cueists from all over the country after the format and draws of the event were revised by the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) at the eleventh hour.

Malik began his campaign by trouncing Awais Ahmad in straight frames and followed it up by meting out similar treatment to Muhammad Aqib later in the afternoon.

Shaikh, on the other hand, blanked both Jahanzaib Jahangir as well as Hunain Aamir in straight frames.

Ahsan Ramzan of Punjab signed off with a break of 74 as he demolished Haroon Saleem in straight frames. It remained the highest break of the opening day.

The winner of the competition will become richer by Rs50,000 besides earning the right to represent the country in the IBSF Under-17 World Snooker Championship later this year.

Results: Muzammil Malik (KP) bt Awis Ahmad (KP) 3-0 (52-25, 47-29, 63-7); Zubair Tahir (Pjb) bt Muhammad Aqib (Sindh) 3-0 (66-17, 90-15, 75-6); Muzammil Shaikh (Pjb) bt Jahanzaib Jahangir (Bal) 3-0 (74-11, 50-35, 53-29) Hanzila Asif (Sindh) bt Hasnain Aamir (Isb) 3-0 (95-21, 84-20, 78-8); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Haroon Saleem (Sindh) 3-0 (89-24, 65-17, 78-70); Ahmad Shahzad (KP) bt Mustafa Ali (Isb) 3-1 (32-113, 46-15, 53-22, 45-38); Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) bt Hasnain Akhtar (Sindh) 3-0 (65-7, 85-13, 61-40); Muzammil Malik (KP) bt Muhammad Aqib (Sindh) 3-0 (84-55, 52-29, 67-37); Zubair Tahir (Pjb) bt Awais Ahmed (KP) 3-0 (82-6, 91-10, 61-18) Jahanzaib Jahangir (Bal) bt Hanzila Asif (Sindh) 3-2; (47-57, 67-20, 36-46, 83-19, 61-23); Muzammil Shaikh (Pjb) bt Hasnain Aamir (Isb) 3-0 (65-9, 87-22, 64-13).