NBP Ranking Snooker Championship continue in full swing

On the fifth day, four seeded cueists along with six more outsiders completed the pre-quarter-final line-up as league matches in the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi. 

Three seeds, Ahsan Javaid, Sultan Muhammad and Ali Haider, failed to proceed. After reseedings, fresh draws were taken out for the knockout phase later in the evening. All the eight pre-quarter-finals, to be best-of-9-frame encounters, will take place on Friday (today).

The outsiders who made their mark and rushed into the knockout round are Rambel Gul (19th), Mohammad Ijaz (22nd), Khurram Agha (23rd), Haris Tahir (26th), Mohammadd Asif Toba (27th), Sharjeel Mehmood (33rd), Umair Alam (36th), M. Shahbaz (37th) and Sirbuland Khan (40th).

Three cueists top two seeds Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Bilal and the defending champion Asjad Iqbal remained unbeaten in their respective groups.

Meanwhile, three more century breaks were registered by Khurram Agha (100) Mohammad Sajjad (118) and Asjad Iqbal (108) on Thursday.

Third seed Babar survived some anxious moments and won his last league fixture against Sohail Shahzad in the Group C which took him into the pre-quarters at the expense of the former with Ijaz claiming the runner-up slot.

Fourth seed Majid topped the Group D on frame difference, having been tied on points with Muhammad Shahbaz, who accompanied him in the last 16.

Fifth seed Ahsan was unable on make it to the next round as the unseeded duo of Aakash and Umair ended as the champion and the runner-up, respectively, in the Group E.

From the Group F, Toba and Rambail, both unseeded, progressed ahead leaving no space for sixth seed Sultan.

Seventh seed Ali Haider also found himself eliminated as the top two positions in the Group G were taken by unseeded Asjad Iqbal, the defending champion, and Haris.

Eighth seed Zulfiqar managed to become the Group H champion despite losing to Abdul Sattar in his last league fixture. Unseeded Sharjeel Mahmood, who also had three points, got the runner-up slot.

Fifth Day Results:

Aamir Sohail (KP) bt Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) 4-1 (64-41, 29-64, 64-60, 73-54, 73-51);

Muhammad Imran (KP) bt Muhammad Faizan (Sindh) 4-3 (64-19, 65-46, 55-56, 54-42, 52-60, 39-57, 61-49);

Rambail Gul (KP) bt Asif Toba (Pjb) 4-3 (9-66, 23-67, 66-7, 60-21, 28-72, 68-67, 69-34);

Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-2 (71-25, 58-4, 29-89, 0-67, 89-37, 60-42);

Farhan Noor (Pjb) bt Usman Ahmad (Pjb) 4-2 (38-63, 69-36, 46-68, 71-08, 53-39, 75-21);

Rashid Mahmood Abbasi (Isb) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-3 (60-36, 25-67, 61-64, 67-32, 61-37, 49-41);

Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-3 (121-7, 89-16, 47-79, 63-23, 1-118, 55-63, 63-29);

Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Muhammad Umar (Pjb) 4-0 (63-20, 81-7, 54-21, 67-0);

Aamir Sohail (KP) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-0 (62-54, 68-16, 63-1, 51-7);

Aakash Rafique (KP) bt Ahsan Javaid (Pjb) 4-1 (73-14, 74-30, 66-26, 49-58, 68-1);

Naseem Akhtar (Pjb) bt Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 4-3 (65-46, 72-18, 06-63, 66-41, 24-48, 37-67, 54-40);

Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Ali Haider (Pjb) 4-0 (91-10, 81-22, 108-12, 60-59);

Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 4-3 (0-91, 34-58, 54-49, 29-65, 69-6, 69-1, 58-11);

Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 4-3 (5-71, 63-29, 31-53, 52-26, 18-63, 79-29, 74-64);

Majid Ali (Pjb) bt Qadeer Abbas (Pjb) 4-2 (22-54, 75-13, 69-38, 63-16, 12-83, 56-53);

Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (98-19, 24-75, 36-68, 95-14(75), 68-37, 61-54);

Muhammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Shahid Aftab (Pjb) 4-3 (26-69, 57-18, 61-51, 7-85, 65-45, 13-69,74-64).