Babar, Zulfiqar & Bilal sparkle in 44th National Snooker Championship

As many as 16 spots are up for grabs – top two places from eight groups apiece for the pre quarter-finals– as league matches end tomorrow. 

Top seed Babar removed Balochistan’s Rabish Pervez straight 82-32, 75-0, 62-55, 77-0 to post a fifth straight victory in Group A. He is drawn to meet Mohammad Mudassir in the last fixture tomorrow. While with four wins already under his belt, local player Zulfiqar stretched his unbeaten run by getting the better of Amir Tariq 4-2 with the scores being 62-20, 34-59, 65-2, 8-71, 59-57, 67-40. He is drawn to play the last match against incumbent national U-18 champion Shaikh M. Mudassir also tomorrow. 

Former national champion and fifth seed Bilal outplayed low-profile Abdul Raziq of Balochistan straight to live up to his reputation. He was home 71-0, 81-16, 80-24, 60-43. He completes his league engagements when he meets reigning national U-21 champion Ali Haider tomorrow. 

Seventh seed and former national champion Shahid Aftab who has also maintained an unbeaten run in five outings, may join the above trio but the picture of group G will become clear on completion of league. Whereas two other cueists Mohammad Ijaz and Abdul Sattar, who are drawn alongside Shahid, have won three matches out of four apiece and may pose challenge to the seeded player. Shahid is pitted against Ijaz tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, unseeded Sultan Mohammad pulled off the only upset of the day when he sent third seed Mohammad Majid Ali packing in fully stretched seven frames duel. After a see-saw he won the match 15-104, 69-13, 50-41, 1-63, 71-19, 1-86, 61-37. Shaikh M. Mudassir also hogged limelight by cracking an elegant break of 128 in the last frame against Bahadur Khan while returning 94-37, 76-47, 60-19, 128-8 victorious.

Results:

1. Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-3 (15-104, 69-13, 50-41, 1-63, 71-19, 1-86, 61-37);

2. Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (56-19, 55-25, 44-54, 32-62, 73-11, 61-53);

3. Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-1 (21-65, 68-42, 46-9, 74-16, 60-28);

4. Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Amir Tariq (Punjab) 4-2 (62-20, 34-59, 65-2, 8-71, 59-57, 67-40);

5. Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (94-37, 76-47, 60-19, 128-8);

6. Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-2 (57-46, 74-13, 36-69, 53-34, 50-57, 90-46);

7. Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (118-14, 125-1, 80-28, 93-1);

8. M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-2 (12-71, 62-43, 73-6, 77-31, 41-47, 62-14);

9. Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-3 (69-30, 41-80, 45-51, 69-24, 24-103, 81-38, 63-31);

10. Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-0 (82-32, 75-0, 62-55, 77-0);

11. Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-2 (81-65, 38-66, 3-53, 59-40, 76-45, 75-65);

12. Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (66-24, 43-64, 64-21, 66-16, 22-64, 76-47);

13. Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-2 (41-57, 60-46, 72-29, 76-47, 40-66, 71-0);

14. Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (70-45, 70-60, 67-54, 60-55);

15. Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) bt Abdul Hameed (Balochistan) 4-0 (95-11, 71-18, 58-7, 54-37);

16. Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (53-54, 41-60, 99-7, 64-2, 67-8, 38-71, 61-32);

17. Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (68-2, 29-47, 34-55, 60-52, 0-70, 75-67, 65-45);

18. Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-3 (29-51, 61-57, 6-69, 79-20, 37-61, 64-54, 88-1);

19. Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Saeed Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-12, 60-50, 59-7, 43-12);

20. Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-3 (18-75, 59-34, 25-65, 6-74, 55-53, 63-3, 55-31);

21. Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-0, 81-16, 80-24, 60-43).