KARACHI: Debutant and the reigning national under-18 and under-21 champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar stretched his winning run in the 42nd National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Naseem, who overcame former Sindh champion Mohammad Ishtiaq in a gruelling battle 4-3 on Sunday, sent Balochistan’s Mohammad Naeem Jaffer packing 4-1 to strengthen his position in group D.

He won the duel 60-10, 73-47, 63-43, 19-66, 81-17.

Top two seeds, Mohammad Bilal and Babar Masih, chalked up their third straight victories over their respective opponents in the group A and B.

Bilal, who survived a scare before turning the tables on former Asian junior runner-up Mohammad Majid Ali in the fully stretched battle 8-109, 28-73, 8-76, 66-32, 94-25, 60-23, 61-53 in his second match on Sunday evening, coasted to straight victory over Zahoor Ahmed of Balochistan (93-1, 80-38, 52-42, 84-0) to stay unbeaten.

Similarly, Babar Masih routed Saeed Ahmed, also from Balochistan, 4-0 (67-7, 81-0, 65-58, 56-0) in the second match and blanked former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba 82-22, 63-36, 66-26, 67-6.

Meanwhile, third seed and former world champion Mohammad Asif, suffered a stunning 3-4 defeat at the hands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s qualifier Mohammad Imran in his second match on Sunday evening.

Imran was home 77-35, 4-128, 66-25, 36-61, 72-14, 15-78, 68-12.

Sindh’s Zulfiqar A. Qadir caught the limelight while hammering highest break of 138 todate against Sattar, also from Sindh, on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, the break could not help him as he lost the match 2-4.

Seventh seed Shahram Changezi of Islamabad, who was toppled by Punjab’s qualifier Shahid Shafiq the other day, made amends by hammering two elegant breaks of 110 and 102 while registering victories against Mohammad Afzaal and Amir Shehzad.

Results:

Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-0 (80-38, 71-4, 61-15, 62-54); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) 4-1 (77-69, 0-134, 68-40, 135-2, 62-54); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-0 (93-1, 80-38, 52-42, 84-0); Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) bt Umer Farooq (Punjab) 4-3 (71-65, 21-60, 53-30, 36-59, 18-58, 47-21, 62-20); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (42-62, 75-54, 70-8, 15-56, 45-58, 75-38, 71-0); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-2 (76-47, 65-31, 46-38, 6-66, 53-65, 54-9); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-0 (82-22, 63-36, 66-26, 67-6); Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (81-36, 63-52, 84-33, 58-41); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) bt Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) 4-2 (59-73, 83-17, 77-16, 40-71, 65-25, 64-34); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 4-1 (22-75, 70-64, 103-18, 65-21, 59-27); Haris (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-1 (69-36, 68-13, 22-88, 113-15, 76-64); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (72-48, 68-12, 41-58, 57-14, 93-82); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Allah Noor (Balochistan) 4-1 (86-24, 43-60, 59-30, 61-53, 83-0); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (117-1, 49-40, 63-60, 77-2); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Naeem Jaffar (Balochistan) 4-1 (60-10, 73-47, 63-43, 19-66, 81-17); Aamir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-2 (76-52, 71-7, 47-57, 62-17, 17-55, 61-37); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Nadir Miraan (Punjab) 4-2 (51-74, 47-60, 64-15, 91-11, 68-13, 62-18); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (5-70, 41-56, 76-45, 62-82, 75-2, 69-46, 92-70);; Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) 4-2 (45-55, 73-8, 55-38, 28-72, 62-39, 47-7); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (55-21, 85-1, 67-54, 75-0); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Hunain Amir (Punjab) 4-1 (82-33, 49-78, 83-10, 58-26, 77-44); Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (58-26, 73-28, 65-32, 52-44); Shahram Changezi (Punjab) bt Aamir Shehzad (Punjab) 4-2 (100-26, 65-20, 81-1, 41-78, 36-61, 108-1); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Umair Zulfiqar (Islamabad) 4-0 (80-42, 64-43, 81-0, 67-21); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Shahid Shafiq (Punjab) 4-0 (63-44,116-9, 92-1, 58-31); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-1 (1-0 (frame awarded to Mubashir), 69-16, 4-69, 87-6, 72-15).

Sunday’s remaining results:

Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-3 (109-13, 50-64, 94-32, 41-64, 48-61, 82-19, 66-18); Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-0 (68-18, 51-33, 75-39, 93-5; Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mubashir Raza (Punjab) 4-1 (66-33, 18-65, 109-24, 71-55, 69-43); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-3 (8-109, 28-73, 8-76, 66-32, 94-25, 60-23, 61-53); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-0 (67-7, 81-0, 65-58, 56-0); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-3 (77-35, 4-128, 66-25, 36-61, 72-14, 15-78, 68-12); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-1 (82-40, 73-8, 0-84, 63-14, 64-4); Sattar (Sindh) bt Zulfiqar A. Qadir 4-2 (81-23, 26-86, 66-50, 93-1, 4-138, 87-0); Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-2 (73-56, 54-28, 52-61, 38-68, 59-37, 55-2); Abdul Raheem (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (1-86, 73-47, 55-45, 18-62, 77-50, 4-68, 70-44); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-0 (63-30, 70-8, 52-25, 79-0); Mohammad Saqib (Punjab) bt Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (16-57, 103-9, 54-18, 62-19, 67-40; Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-2 (53-60, 38-58, 77-0, 51-37, 58-43, 70-5); Munawwar Khaliq (Islamabad) bt Zeeshan Raza (Punjab) 4-3 (46-75, 73-29, 4-80, 102-4, 61-21, 20-45, 63-24).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Umer Farooq v Mohammad Ahsan Javaid, Allah Noor v Abdul Raheem, Haris v Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Naseem Akhtar v Zeeshan Raza, Abu Saim v Fazal Umer Butt, Mohammad Ijaz v Sirbuland Khan, Shahid Aftab v Shahid Shafiq.

At 12noon: Mohammad Bilal v Mussadiq Mehmood, Babar Masih v Fawad Khan, Mohammad Asif v Imran Shehzad, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Naeem Jaffer, Sohail Shehzad v Mohammad Faizan, Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Hunain Amir, Shahram Changezi v Umair Zulfiqar.

At 2pm: Asjad Iqbal v Allah Noor, Aakash Rafique v Mohammad Majid Ali, Khurram Agha v Saeed Ahmed, Bahadur Khan v Mohammad Imran, Munawwar Khaliq v Mohammad Ishtiaq, Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir v Abdul Raziq, Shah Khan v Sattar.

At 4pm: Agha Bilawal v Mohammad Afzaal, Farhan Noor v Amir Sohail, Mubashir Raza v Abdul Raheem, Mohammad Asif Toba v Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Yousuf v Sultan Mohammad, Farhan Khan v Zeeshan Raza, Nadir Miran v Fazal Umar Butt.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2017