Former world champion Asif off to a flying start in Jubilee Insurance 44th National Snooker Championship

Drawn in group B, senior player and former world champion Asif was caught on the wrong foot and that too at the hands of wildcard Mubashir Raza who crafted an exciting 4-3 victory that may help him in crossing the first hurdle and going to the knockout round. 

Mubashir, 24, the losing pre quarter-finalists of 2017 world snooker championship for men, surged twice in the best of seven match before Asif drew level first at two-all then three-all as the former romped home in the decisive frame to post a historic win. Mubashir won the duel 62-41, 78-1, 30-59, 8-78, 68-36, 24-73, 61-17.

However, despite winning the first two frames another wildcard Mohammad Shah­baz suffered 2-4 loss to top seed Babar Masih in Group ‘A’ opener. The latter stormed back from deficit to post 27-58, 36-78, 59-40, 78-64, 72-5, 70-28 victory.

Besides, other six seeded cueists lived up to their billing winning their respective group openers.

Third seed and Sindh’s crusader Zulfiqar A. Qadir was on song hammering first century break of 104 in the third frame while routing former Pakistan No 1 and veteran Imran Shehzad straight 70-67, 68-54, 104-13, 69-6.

Fourth seed Mohammad Majid Ali carved out 4-1 victory over Ali Raza the scores being 40-68, 51-19, 70-14, 70-23, 82-16.

Fifth seed Mohammad Bilal sent Rashid Aziz packing 4-0 (98-10, 57-4, 97-12, 58-7) while sixth seed Sharjeel Mehmood was extended to six frames by Agha Bilawal before winning (51-69, 74-16, 97-1, 65-22, 12-70, 70-19).

Seventh seed Shahid Aftab blanked Amir Sohail straight (78-8, 84-4, 65-17, 70-37) so does eighth seed Rambel Gul who carved out (68-22, 126-1, 70-37, 63-32) win over Abdul Hameed. The highlight was a splendid break of 118 in the second frame, the second century break of the day.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) has revised draws following two dropouts at the eleventh hour.

Sindh No. 10 Agha Bilawal has succeeded Danish Haroon while Balochistan No nine Ahmed Shah has replaced Samiullah.

First Day Results:

1. Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-3 (62-41, 78-1, 30-59, 8-78, 68-36, 24-73, 61-17);

2. Ahmed Shah (Balohistan) bt M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-3 (29-70, 57-35, 26-50, 55-28, 69-55, 27-66, 79-41);

3. M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (44-73, 32-66, 51-35, 50-26, 38-74, 87-12, 66-27);

4. Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) 4-2 (27-58, 36-78, 59-40, 78-64, 72-5, 70-28);

5. Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) 4-2 (45-82, 67-42, 60-66, 62-8, 84-24, 66-5);

6. Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-0 (69-18, 69-26, 48-47, 69-45);

7. Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-1 (40-68, 51-19, 70-14, 70-23, 82-16);

8. M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) 4-1 (69-44, 45-56, 100-0, 73-38, 65-36);

9. Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (87-15, 69-2, 67-4, 70-4);

10. Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-0 (70-67, 68-54, 104-13, 69-6);

11. Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (65-26, 50-71, 68-17, 55-62, 36-76, 70-46, 66-37);

12. Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-3 (65-7, 62-72, 51-63, 8-58, 81-26, 68-8, 63-27);

13. Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (51-69, 74-16, 97-1, 65-22, 12-70, 70-19);

14. Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) 4-1 (75-16, 88-45, 65-68, 76-16, 61-9);

15. Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Saeed Khan (Balochistan) 4-2 (15-54, 84-0, 72-23, 20-57, 70-7, 52-51);

16. Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Rashid Aziz (Punjab) 4-0 (98-10, 57-4, 97-12, 58-7);

17. Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Farukh Usman (Sindh) 4-0 (67-15, 18-24, 56-38, 49-1);

18. Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) bt Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) 4-0 (59-36, 58-47, 52-11, 77-15);

19. Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (78-8, 84-4, 65-17, 70-37);

20. Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abdul Hameed (Balochistan) 4-0 (68-22, 126-1, 70-37, 63-32);

21. Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (74-40, 67-44, 42-66, 81-48, 68-17);

22. Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt S. Habib Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (75-26, 86-8, 107-8, 58-26);

23. Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) 4-2 10-68, 20-60, 63-31, 75-1, 72-40, 93-18).