Seeded cueists register comfortable wins in National Snooker

KARACHI: The seeded cueists recorded their second successive wins in the league matches of the Jubilee Insurance 41st National Snooker Championship 2016 here on Wednesday.

Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Bilal, Shahram Changezi, Babar Masih, Shahid Aftab and Sharjeel Mahmood, the top cueists of the country, extended their unbeaten run, while the wild card trio of Mohammad Yousuf, Hunain Aamir and Mohammad Faheem also won their matches on the third day of league matches.

Unseeded Farhan Noor registered a classy century break of 104 in his surprising 4-3 win over 10th-ranked Rambail Gul, while 11th-ranked Sultan Mohammad fired a break of 110 during his impressive 4-1 victory over Saeed Ahmed.

Abdul Sattar, ranked 9th in the national chart, chalked up a century break of 102 during the course of his 4-2 win over veteran Khurram Hussain Agha, while 12th- ranked Imran Shahzad returned to winning ways.

A record number of 52 cueists, divided in eight groups for the preliminary rounds, have entered the competition which will continue for a record period of 13 days.

Top seed Mohammad Asif, a former world champion, defeated Mohammad Afzal 4-2, while second seed Mohammad Sajjad blanked Ian Mark John in straight frames.

Third seed Mohammad Bilal whipped Ahmed Shah in straight frames, while fourth seed Shahram Changezi meted out similar treatment to Abu Saim.

Sixth seed Babar Masih was equally ruthless while cleaning Ubaid Khan, seventh seed Shahid Aftab outwitted Mohammad Javed Ansari 4-2 and eighth seed Sharjeel Mahmood defeated Fawad Khan (KP) by an identical scoreline.

Results: Bahadur Khan (Bal) bt Farhan Khan (KP) 4-3 (41-52, 30-59, 93-27, 65-7, 66-44, 29-35, 43-34); Abdul Raziq (Bal) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-2 (63-38, 34-69, 70-9, 54-45, 29-51, 55-42); Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Mohammad Javed (Pjb) 4-1 (69-28, 49-39, 12-58, 60-27, 60-30); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Raja Rashid (Isb) 4-1 (116-14, 48-75, 66-39, 60-56, 85-2); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) 4-1 (75-39, 76-16, 80-26, 9-91, 75-29); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Rashid Mahmood (KPK) 4-1 (64-62, 20-57, 75-15, 61-27, 47-37); Abdul Sattar (Pjb) bt Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (60-20, 17-66, 28-57, 65-29, 60-33, 117-5); Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Rambail Gul (KP) 4-3 (63-57, 105-0, 21-66, 06-62, 79-29, 5-60, 66-38); Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Bal) 4-1 (110-7, 70-12, 58-66, 126-1, 76-38); Mohammad Faheem (Pjb) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (84-4, 73-47, 70-17, 96-6); Hunain Amir (Pjb) bt Muhammad Javed (Pjb) 4-1 (73-32, 70-13, 21-80, 68-47, 8-64, 60-16); Mohammad Yousuf (Pjb) bt Raja Rashid (Isb) 4-1 (100-0, 70-7, 36-62, 74-41, 102-15); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Aqeel (KPK) 4-0 (67-44, 74-24, 68-39, 57-8); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Mohammad Afzal (Pjb) 4-2 (70-20, 47-72, 68-8, 67-57, 28-74, 79-23); Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-0 (64-51, 67-18, 88-43, 97-17); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Ahmed Shah (Bal) 4-0 (94-7, 51-42, 57-48, 75-34); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-0 (65-16, 73-52, 63-20, 73-38); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Ubaid Khan (Bal) 4-0 (71-15, 51-45, 64-37, 45-0); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Javed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (23-71, 70-14, 89-13, 95-6, 39-61, 90-2); Sharjeel Mahmood (KP) bt Fawad Khan (KP) 4-2 (58-51, 1-86, 92-9, 76-06, 57-58, 59-24).