KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa qualifier Aakash Rafique hogged limelight while upsetting fourth seed and former national champion Shahid Aftab 4-1 in the Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.

Having won his earlier two matches against Mohammad Shahbaz straight and Musaddiq Mehmood 4-1, Rafique, inched closer towards making it to the knockout stage from group D.

Rafique won the battle 54-40, 67-28, 0-95, 74-37, 69-30.

Meanwhile, the top two seeds – Asjad Iqbal and Mohammad Asif – stretched their unbeaten run as reigning champion Mohammad Sajjad’s dismal form continued in the annual event.

Asjad recovered from a slow start to inflict 4-1 defeat on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s qualifier Mohammad Imran (29-60, 80-43, 79-15, 73-1, 61-13) to register third successive victory in group A.

Similarly, former world amateur snooker champion Asif, also conceded a frame while getting the better of Islamabad’s Rashid Mehmood Abbasi, also by 4-1 scoreline. Asif was home 95-20, 8-64, 60-31, 49-22, 68-29.

Both Asjad and Asif look certain to emerge group champions on completion of the league matches.

As far as Sajjad is concerned, he seems to be not in his true elements which is evident from his below par performance. He had lost his two matches to Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) 2-4 and Amir Shahzad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also by 2-4, so far.

After failing to finih among the top 12 to earn direct entry in the event, Sajjad had qualified from Punjab Cup.

Mohammad Bilal, meanwhile, compiled a break of 108, overall sixth of the event in three days, against Balochistan’s Turyali Aziz while returning 4-1 victorious the scores being 109-0, 105-13, 49-74, 81-22, 78-33.

Results:

Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (29-60, 80-43, 79-15, 73-1, 61-13); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) 4-1 (95-20, 8-64, 60-31, 49-22, 68-29); Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) 4-0 (63-37, 66-52, 86-48, 78-37); Mohammad Umar (Punjab) bt Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-2 (63-29, 32-76, 47-73, 68-37, 82-19, 64-56); Ian Mark John (Sindh) bt Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan) walk over; Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (41-64, 57-34, 64-40, 68-22, 16-63, 47-52, 68-40); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Turyali Aziz (Balochistan) 4-1 (109-0, 105-13, 49-74, 81-22, 78-33); Akash Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-1 (54-40, 67-28, 0-95, 74-37, 69-30); Usman Ahmad (Punjab) bt Aamir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (69-55, 75-6, 59-46, 55-41); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-0 (78-38, 69-28, 65-58, 62-55); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Mehmood Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (76-1, 44-14, 66-3, 1-0); Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (46-57, 60-11, 51-28, 63-30, 57-23); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (75-13, 76-10, 45-61, 99-1, 65-56); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) 4-2 (28-62, 72-14, 58-52, 64-68, 63-31, 60-4); Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) bt Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) 4-1 (8-86, 64-52, 57-22, 45-15, 1-0); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Awais Ullah (Punjab) 4-2 (85-47, 61-38, 71-52, 2-69, 5-71, 59-45); Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (54-63, 77-6, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-1 (20-38, 69-28, 63-58, 69-55, 60-14).

Tuesday’s remaining results:

Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Imran Shahzad (Punjab) 4-2 (7-83, 67-40, 90-21, 46-63, 76-8, 55-27); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-3 (27-93, 82-41, 81-79, 78-48, 12-79, 13-69, 67-27); Amir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (34-81, 55-15, 70-30, 24-64, 61-8, 54-46); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Noman Javed (Islamabad) 4-3 (78-22, 42-58, 51-52, 71-51, 10-79, 118-4, 76-48); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Aamir Sohail (Punjab) 4-0 (58-44, 77-45, 67-39, 65-5); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 4-3 (46-59, 71-60, 40-54, 5-64, 66-52, 46-41, 72-9); Usman Ahmad (Punjab) bt Mehmood Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-46, 68-53, 76-15, 51-26); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (64-33, 60-8, 70-52, 62-12).

Thursday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mubashir Raza (Punjab) v Mohammad Faizan (Sindh); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) v Awais Ullah Munir (Punjab); Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) v Amir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Mohammad Ishtaiq (Sindh) v Bahadur Khan (Balochistan); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Sohail Shahzad (Sindh).

At 12noon: Babar Masih (Punjab) v Noman Javed (Islamabad); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) v Mohammad Haris Tahir (Punjab); Abdul Javaid (Punjab) v Mehmood Khan (Balochistan); Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) v Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan); Shaikh M. Mudassir (Punjab) v Jahangir Yar Mohammad (Balochistan); Mohammad Umar (Punjab) v Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab).

At 2pm: Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) v Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab); Mohammad Abdullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Qadeer Abbas (Punjab); Awais Ullah (Punjab) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab); Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan) v Umair Alam (Sindh); Amir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Imran Shahzad (Punjab); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Ahmed Shah (Balochistan).

At 4pm: Noman Javed (Islamabad) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Samiullah (Balochistan); Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Ian Mark John (Sindh); Rashid Mehmood Abbasi (Islamabad) v Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Turyali Aziz (Balochistan) v Abdul Javaid (Punjab); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh).

At 6pm: Usman Ahmad (Punjab) v Agha Bilawal (Sindh); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) v Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad); Aamir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mehmood Khan (Balochistan); Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan).

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2018