KARACHI: Two minor upsets highlighted the opening day as top eight won their respective openers in the Jubilee Insurance second ranking snooker championship which commenced at Hotel Movenpick Arcade on Saturday.

In the first upset, former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba, who is trailing at 28th slot, handed out 4-3 defeat to 12th ranked Abdul Sattar by 4-3 frames in group E. Toba was home 61-23, 7-67, 61-59, 21-57, 65-18, 37-84, 70-60.

In the next, 30th ranked Mohammad Ijaz sent 14th ranked Mohammad Iftikhar Khan packing straight the scores being 92-1, 88-22, 87-10, 73-38.

Eighth seed Abdul Jawed, the only junior cueist among the top eight, overcome former Sindh champion Mohammad Jawaid Ansari in the fully stretched battle to justify his credentials.Jawed, the Punjab junior champion and national under-21 semi-finalists returned victorious 86-10, 35-74, 57-1, 28-77, 36-62, 55-40, 54-46.

Besides, top seed and national champion Mohammad Bilal, No 2 Sohail Shehzad, third seed Mohammad Asif, fourth seed Babar Masih, fifth seed Mohammad Sajjad, sixth seed Shahram Changezi and seventh seed Asjad Iqbal won their group matches.

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Muzammil Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (66-17, 80-1O, 69-21, 72-0); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Iftekhar Khan (Sindh) 4-0 (92-1, 88-22, 87-10, 73-38); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Hunain Amir (Punjab) 4-2 (1-0 (first frame awarded to Babar), 94-7, 25-64, 29-87, 66-15, 75-22); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Nadir Miran (Punjab) 4-0 (70-21, 89-12, 66-22, 55-27); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Saeed Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (0-77, 96-1, 94-0, 81-25, 91-20); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (61-23, 7-67, 61-59, 21-57, 65-18, 37-84, 70-60); Shahram changezi (Islamabad) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (86-0, 76-10, 77-42, 75-19); Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (81-18, 69-59, 64-44, 49-63, 61-52); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) 4-2 (60-45, 60-64, 38-74, 69-43, 76-11, 77-23); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-0 (73-1, 76-16, 73-36, 75-15); Abdul Jawed (Punjab) bt Mohammad Jawaid Ansari (Sindh) 4-3 (86-10, 35-74, 57-1, 28-77, 36-62, 55-40, 54-46); Zulfiqar A.Qadir (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (8-77, 30-68, 54-43, 53-74, 74-28, 57-29, 72-30); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (74-32, 82-0, 65-44,102-22); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (Islamabad) 4-2 (57-48, 35-77, 108-18, 63-61, 0-68, 85-17); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) 4-1 (83-1, 58-62, 65-29, 72-26, 69-1); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Ian Mark John (Sindh) 4-3 (1-64, 51-56, 41-58, 57-53, 64-44, 82-24, 92-36); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) 4-0 (89-30, 86-9, 65-17, 99-0).

Sunday’s schedule:

At 10am: Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Ijaz, Mohammad Iftekhar Khan v Abdul Raheem, Babar Masih v Nadir Miran, Shahid Aftab v Rambel Gul, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Asif Toba, Abdul Sattar v Khurram H. Agha.

At 12noon: Shahram Changezi v Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Faheem v Haris Tahir, Asjad Iqbal v Farhan Noor, Mohammad Majid Ali v Sharjeel Mehmood, Abdul Jawed v Aakash Rafiq, Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Imran Shehzad.

At 2pm: Mohammad Bilal v Mohammad Nouman Iqbal, Abu Saim v Bahadur Khan, Sohail Shehzad v Ian Mark John, Mohammad Afzal v Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Iftikhar Khan v Muzammil Khan, Shahid Aftab v Hunain Amir. At 4pm: Abdul Sattar v Saeed Khan, Mohammad Faheem v Abdul Raziq, Mohammad Majid Ali v Mohammad Jawed, Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Mohammad Jawaid Ansari.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2016