KARACHI: Defending champion Imran Shehzad opened his campaign on a wrong foot when he went down fighting by 3-4 frames to reigning Sindh champion Mohammad Ishtiaq on the opening day of fourth NBP ranking snooker championship at DA Creek Club on Monday.

Imran, a former Pakistan No 1 who is now trailing at 13th spot in the national ranking, came back into the game thrice to drew level at three-all before succumbing to opponents pressure in the decisive frame. Ishtiaq won the group “D” fixture 84-17, 15-70, 95-29, 6-70, 57-19, 16-79, 69-46.

Earlier, veteran Mohammad Yousuf pulled off the first upset of the day when he whipped seventh seed Vishan Gir 4-2 to earn full points. The former world and Asian champion won the battle 72-39, 76-2, 33-51, 61-84, 65-37, 57-28.

Meanwhile, top six seeded players have a smooth sailing over their opponents.

National champion and Pakistan’s top cueist Mohammad Asif gave no chance to Islamabad’s Yasir Nadeem registering 4-0 victory while Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Sajjad and Naveen Perwani conjured up 4-1 victories over their respective opponents.

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) have abruptly revised the draws of the event following regret from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Rambel Gul on Sunday.

This is not the first time that the game’s controlling body has made changes in the draws at the eleventh hour without informing the newsmen.

Results: 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 Shehzad (KP) 4-1 (40-56, 82-6, 85-0, 54-21, 62-41); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt M. Naeem Jaffer (Balochistan) 4-1 (53-54, 90-0, 98-2, 57-24, 70-61); 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 (Balochistan) 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, 76-2, 33-51, 61-84, 65-37, 57-28); Sharjeel Mehmood (KP) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Balochistan) 4-1 (93-30, 5-45, 67-41, 84-8, 63-4); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad 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 (KP) 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); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (48-61, 70-2, 29-68, 71-45, 25-71, 78-4, 66-62); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) bt Farrukh Usman 4-0 (54-44, 65-44, 88-33, 65-14).

Tuesday’s fixtures: Abdul Sattar v Mohammad Bilal, Sohail Shehzad v Javed Ansari, Vishan Gir v Zahoor Ahmed, Sharjeel Mehmood v Farrukh Usman at 10am; Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Asif Toba, Sultan Mohammad v Ali Raza, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Akmal, Naveen Perwani v Mohammad Ishtiaq at 12noon; M. Javed v Hunain Aamir, Mohammad Majid v Abdul Raziq, Bilawal Agha v M. Yousuf, Umair Alam v Abdul Rauf Kurd at 2pm; Farhan Khan v Yasir Nadeem, Shafiullah v Shehram Changezi, M. Nazeer v Yasir Shehzad, Shahid Aftab v M. Naeem Jaffer at 4