Majid, Imran shocks top seeds in National Snooker Championship
Two wildcard holder cueists Mohammad Majid Ali and Imran Shahzad stunned seeded opponents in the 43rd Jubillee Insurance National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana.
Wild card holder Mohammad Majid Ali defeated fifth seeded Mubashir Raza 4-1 by 39-60, 68-4, 69-23, 83-9, 56-14 in the first session. Majid lost first frame against 5th seed but he never looked behind and won next four consecutive frames to sent Mubashir packing.
Other wildcard holder Imran Shahzad toppled seventh seed and Pakistan’s former No.1 player Khurram Agha 4-2 by 57-9, 60-18, 40-55, 61-17, 35-55, 57-16. Imran won first two frames but veteran Khurram Agha holds him in the third frame and won it by 55-40. Imran won the fourth frame and extended his lead to 3-1. At that point, once again Khurram won the fifth frame and avoided the scare of losing the game for sometime but Imran dominated completely in the sixth frame as he did not allow former No.1 player to play freely and won the match by 4-2.
Asif Toba the third wild card holder fought hard against local cueist Zulfiqar Qadir and starched the match to its limits but lost it in a seesaw battle 4-3 by 66-8, 61-65, 20-78, 92-37, 68-33, 21-51, 89-26.
On the day, some lovely breaks were also observed as the top cueist Asjad Iqbal played a break of 120 in the first frame, the highest so far in the championship as he sent packing Sindh’s Ian Mark john 4-1 by 120-5, 80-34, 35-65, 68-20, 59-40.
Two other cueists Babar Masih and Haris Tahir played century breaks as Babar breaks 101 against Sharjeel Mehmood and Haris played 112 against Sultan Mohammad.
Former world champion and second seed Mohammad Asif survived a scare of defeat against KPK’s Sibuland Khan in the seven frames match where he emerged victorious 4-3 with a score of 81-41, 72-33, 51-58, 60-67, 44-67, 61-27, 67-31
In another match, three-time national champion Mohammad Sajjad displayed poor show and lost the group’s first match 2-4 against Sohail Shahzad.
Results:
| 1 | Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) | def. | Mubashir Raza (Punjab) | 4-1 (39-60, 68-4, 69-23, 83-9, 56-14) |
| 2 | Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) | def. | Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) | 4-3 (66-8, 61-65, 20-78, 92-37, 68-33, 21-51, 89-26) |
| 3 | Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) | def. | Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) | 4-2 (19-57, 81-6, 67-28, 57-42, 1-90, 80-10) |
| 4 | Umair Alam (Sindh) | def. | Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) | 4-3 (15-59, 7-59, 71-8, 16-86, 59-13, 48-32, 73-57) |
| 5 | Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | def. | Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) | 4-3 (41-28, 47-63, 51-63, 67-20, 72-40, 50-41) |
| 6 | Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) | def. | Rambail Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | 4-2 (46-24, 25-65, 64-41, 34-52, 64-24, 66-17) |
| 7 | Imran Shahzad (Punjab) | def. | Khurram Agha (Sindh) | 4-2 (57-9, 60-18, 40-55, 61-17, 35-55, 57-16) |
| 8 | Babar Masih (Punjab) | def. | Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | 4-2 (66-18, 54-61, 8-68, 72-34, 62-14, 101-14) |
| 9 | Abdul Sattar (Sindh) | def. | Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) | 4-0 (68-6, 73-9, 58-44, 60-40) |
| 10 | Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) | def. | Samiullah (Balochistan) | 4-1 (75-36, 65-34, 74-32, 22-56, 96-0) |
| 11 | Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) | def. | Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) | 4-2 (101-11, 8-87, 73-12, 58-49, 47-65, 53-44) |
| 12 | Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) | def. | Haris Tahir (Punjab) | 4-3 (40-74, 78-48, 64-0, 37-82, 2-119, 88-76, 66-26) |
| 13 | Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) | def. | Ian Mark John (Sindh) | 4-1 (120-5, 80-34, 35-65, 68-20, 59-40) |
| 14 | Mohammad Asif (Punjab) | def. | Sarbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | 4-3 (81-41, 72-33, 51-58, 60-67, 44-67, 61-27, 67-31) |
| 15 | Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | def. | Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) | 4-3 (33-65, 10-50, 70-63, 64-1, 38-66, 67-27, 61-36) |
| 16 | Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) | def. | Mohammad Umar (Punjab) | 4-0 (71-36, 88-34, 51-8, 87-1) |
| 17 | Ali Haider (Punjab) | def. | Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan) | 4-0 (50-20, 80-18, 64-27, 71-32) |
| 18 | Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) | def. | Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh) | 4-2 (68-47, 0-96, 21-72, 58-53, 98-27, 63-49) |
