Asif survives as Sajjad, Shahram crash out
Two more seeds - second seed Mohammad Sajjad and fourth seed Shahram Changezi - were knocked out while top seed Mohammad Asif survived a scare as upsets continued in the 41st National Snooker Championship at a local hotel on Thursday.
Two more seeds - second seed Mohammad Sajjad and fourth seed Shahram Changezi - were knocked out while top seed Mohammad Asif survived a scare as upsets continued in the 41st National Snooker Championship at a local hotel on Thursday.
Sindh's Sohail Shehzad, who was part of bronze medal winning team at the 2010 Asian Games, accounted for former world No 2 Mohammad Sajjad 5-4 in the nerve-tingling encounter that was stretched to full distance.
Shehzad, who started on a slow pace losing the opener 17-60, made a comeback and surged to 4-1 lead taking the next four frames 84-4, 65-25, 84-35, 113-17. The fifth frame also includes a solid break of 97 in the fifth frame.
Needing one frame to win, he succumbed to Sajjad's pressure losing the next three frames 1-112, 26-57, 55-65. However, Shehzad kept his patience and won the decisive frame 61-26 to cruise into last four.
Mohammad Bilal, who has been showing promise in the circuit of late, chalked up a magnificent 5-1 victory over fourth seed Shahram Changezi the scores being 8-64, 108-27, 59-55, 82-20, 63-23, 73-7.
Similary, sixth seed Babar Masih reached his succes-sive semi-final while routing the national under-21 semi-finalist Abdul Jawed 5-1.
Masih, who lost 4-6 to Mohammad Majid Ali in the third ranking event last year, won the duel 99-0, 13-71, 81-17, 75-61, 47-36, 90-5.
Meanwhile, a century break and 3-1 lead seized by reigning Punjab Cup champion Asjad Iqbal went in vain as former IBSF champion Asif coasted to 5-3 win to justify his credentials.
Asif, who has regained his form by pocketing two of the three domestic titles last year, displayed his acumen by bouncing back to clinch the battle. Asif romped home 74-50, 50-81, 5-100, 1-130, 74-49, 73-35, 67-20, 58-20. Asjad has entered his name in the list of century break performers by compiling a break of exactly 100 in the third frame.
(Source: Dawn News)
Sindh's Sohail Shehzad, who was part of bronze medal winning team at the 2010 Asian Games, accounted for former world No 2 Mohammad Sajjad 5-4 in the nerve-tingling encounter that was stretched to full distance.
Shehzad, who started on a slow pace losing the opener 17-60, made a comeback and surged to 4-1 lead taking the next four frames 84-4, 65-25, 84-35, 113-17. The fifth frame also includes a solid break of 97 in the fifth frame.
Needing one frame to win, he succumbed to Sajjad's pressure losing the next three frames 1-112, 26-57, 55-65. However, Shehzad kept his patience and won the decisive frame 61-26 to cruise into last four.
Mohammad Bilal, who has been showing promise in the circuit of late, chalked up a magnificent 5-1 victory over fourth seed Shahram Changezi the scores being 8-64, 108-27, 59-55, 82-20, 63-23, 73-7.
Similary, sixth seed Babar Masih reached his succes-sive semi-final while routing the national under-21 semi-finalist Abdul Jawed 5-1.
Masih, who lost 4-6 to Mohammad Majid Ali in the third ranking event last year, won the duel 99-0, 13-71, 81-17, 75-61, 47-36, 90-5.
Meanwhile, a century break and 3-1 lead seized by reigning Punjab Cup champion Asjad Iqbal went in vain as former IBSF champion Asif coasted to 5-3 win to justify his credentials.
Asif, who has regained his form by pocketing two of the three domestic titles last year, displayed his acumen by bouncing back to clinch the battle. Asif romped home 74-50, 50-81, 5-100, 1-130, 74-49, 73-35, 67-20, 58-20. Asjad has entered his name in the list of century break performers by compiling a break of exactly 100 in the third frame.
(Source: Dawn News)
