Unseeded Ali Hamza shocks fourth seed Bilal

KARACHI: Unseeded Ali Hamza shocked fourth seed Muhammad Bilal on the fourth day of preliminary round matches of the NBP 46th National Snooker Championship 2021 here at the NBP Sports Complex in Clifton on Monday.

It was the first defeat of the competition for Bilal, acclaimed as one of the top cueists of the country. Ali Hamza came up with a stunning performance to upstage the former champion 4-2, who had drawn level by taking the fourth frame with a break of 64.

While top seeded and defending champion Muhammad Asif has boosted his chances of retaining the title by winning his first four matches, second seed Muhammad Sajjad has come back into the reckoning with his second successive victory after having succumbed to defeats in his first couple of games.

Third seed Shahid Aftab, also a former champion, maintained his unbeaten run to be a frontrunner for a place in the last-16 from the Group C. Eighth seed Babar Masih, placed in the Group D, has also remained undefeated.

The preliminary round matches, being contested by 56 cueists, divided equally in eight groups, will continue until Thursday and the knockout rounds, starting with pre-quarter-finals, will commence the following day. The final is scheduled to be held on Monday next.

Results: Waqar Ahmed (Isb) bt Aftab Baig (Bal) 4-0 (66-43, 63-19, 60-16, 72-44); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Muhammad Iftikhar (Sindh) 4-0 (60-25, 57-39, 72-14, 66-32); Adil Khan (Bal) bt Hamza Akbar (Pjb) 4-3 (62-56, 80-44, 20-52, 61-58, 34-63, 16-71, 70-35); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Saifullah (Pjb) 4-0 (65-45, 37-57, 68-41, 75-44, 79-1); Muhammad Asif (NBP) bt Awaisullah (Punjab) 4-1 (92-18, 75-5, 15-98, 68-9, 78-54); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Munawar Khaliq (Isb) 4-3 (24-76, 92-19, 56-69, 68-39, 41-60, 57-17, 61-40); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Abdul Qadir Ashir (Bal) 4-0 (75-38, 93-5, 77-16, 103-14); Muhammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) 4-0 (87-15(72), 63-57, 73-25, 85-66); Adil Khan (Bal) bt Zubair Tahir (Pjb) 4-1 (70-48, 80-53, 64-65, 71-32, 54-39); Saifullah (Pjb) bt Hamza Akbar (Pjb) 4-0 (89-24, 75-31, 63-58, 55-12); Muhammad Asif (NBP) bt Abdul Qadir Ashir (Bal) 4-0 (72-34, 80-0, 67-9, 92-0); Muhammad Shahzad (Pjb) bt Munawar Khaliq (Isb) 4-2 (72-25, 40-62, 72-27, 15-73, 73-17, 73-18); Ali Hamza (Sindh) bt Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) 4-2 (45-55, 80-28, 90-33, 62-78, 37-14, 73-0); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) bt Abdul Javed (Isb) 4-2 (65-21, 53-63, 67-43, 48-59, 56-41, 49-38); Nadeem Gul (Pjb) bt Ahmad Shah (Bal) 4-0 (58-51, 57-76, 58-34, 86-0); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Waqar Ahmed (Isb) 4-1 (91-27, 91-28, 69-36, 1-93, 71-42); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Aamir Sohail (KP) 4-2 (73-25, 88-0, 36-55, 70-37, 57-68, 75-17); Hammad Hassan Shaikh (Pjb) bt Aftab Baig (Bal) 4-1 (19-51, 69-8, 61-12, 9-70, 38-51); Mubashir Raza (Pjb) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-3 (71-53, 18-66, 63-54, 12-56, 0-57, 63-16, 61-22); Saad Khan (KP) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-0 (63-49, 49-16, 67-51, 73-19); Taufiq Johri (Sindh) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-1 (23-60, 88-30, 64-33, 64-47, 59-39); Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) bt Shaikh Muzammil (Pjb) 4-3 (39-55, 66-21, 20-59, 63-40, 67-16, 51-61, 52-9); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Hiskail Bilal (Bal) 4-1 (88-27, 32-87, 86-8, 65-22, 106-0); Umar Naeem (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (KP) 4-1 (63-23, 34-48, 67-24, 76-30, 61-15).