22-May-2012
The News
Syed Khalid Mahmood
KARACHI: Veteran Mohammad Yousuf stunned seventh seed Vishan Gir and Mohammad Ishtiaq sneaked a win over holder Imran Shahzad on the opening day of the 4th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2012 here at the Defence Authority Creek Club on Monday.
The other seven seeds, Mohammad Asif, Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Sajjad, Naveen Perwani, Abdul Sattar, Sohail Shahzad and Sharjeel Mahmood, also started their campaign on a winning note.
Top seeded Asif whacked Yasir Nadeem of Islambad, a belated entrant in the competition, in straight frames, while second seed Sultan spoiled the party for Shehram Changezi, also from Islamabad and given a wild card entry for the competition.
Third seed Sajjad was in terrific form while blasting Yasir Shahzad 4-1. Fourth seed Naveen Perwani was easily brushed aside by Naeem Jaffer by an identical scoreline. Fifth seed Abdul Sattar had to bring all his expertise into play to tame Hunain Aamir, a promising youngster from Punjab, 4-3.
Sixth seed Sohail, who represented Pakistan in the World Championship, was also lucky to escape with a narrow win over Abdul Raziq of Balochistan in a match that went to the full distance of seven frames.
Seventh seed Gir was not so lucky while confronting Yousuf, a former world champion. Both the cueists were locked in an absorbing battle but experience prevailed over youth in the end.
Eighth seed Sharjeel Mahmood faced no such problems as he defeated Abdul Rauf Kurd 4-1.
Meanwhile Rambel Gul of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who had created a sensation by winning a national ranking event here at the Karachi Gymkhana a few years ago, couldn’t turn up for championship, citing personal reasons. His absence allowed the organisers to revert to the original participation of 40 cueists.
According to the revised draws, the league matches, spread over four sessions daily, will continue for five days with the pre-quarter-finals and the quarter-finals to be played over the weekend. The semifinals will be held on Monday next and the final on Tuesday.
Results: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (48-61, 70-2, 29-68, 71-45, 25-71, 78-4, 66-62); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Farrukh Usman Brohi (Sindh) 4-0 (54-44, 65-44, 88-33, 65-14); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-0 (53-24, 58-37, 103-35, 63-27); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Punjab) 4-2 (64-31, 24-80, 72-43, 44-81, 61-23, 71-27); Mohammad Akmal (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (KPK) 4-3 (54-31, 66-80, 75-44, 68-48, 2-58, 52-69, 61-45); Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Punjab) 4-3 (84-17, 15-70, 95-29, 6-70, 57-19, 16-79, 69-46); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Hunain Aamir (Punjab) 4-3 (27-65, 75-3, 44-69, 86-38, 42-70, 68-8, 77-41); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-3 (30-72, 130-0, 47-56, 91-4, 49-74, 100-0, 64-15); Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) bt Vishan Gir (Sindh) 4-2 (72-39, 76-02, 33-51, 61-84, 65-37, 57-28); Sharjeel Mehmood (KPK) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Bal) 4-1 (93-30, 45-5, 67-41, 84-8, 63-4); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Yasir Nadeem (Islamabad) 4-0 (79-10, 99-12, 66-41, 65-7); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Shehram Changezi (Islamabad) 4-1 (13-64, 65-39, 60-13, 71-18, 69-47); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Yasir Shahzad (KPK) 4-1 (40-56, 82-6, 85-0, 54-21, 62-41); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Naeem Jaffer (Bal) 4-1 (53-54, 90-0, 98-2, 57-24, 70-61).
Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/ |
