KARACHI: The unseeded quartet of Asjad Iqbal, Sultan Mohammad, Ali Haider and Sohail Shehzad stepped into the last-16 round of the 44th National Snooker Championship as seven places were filled for the stage at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday. . Top seed Babar Masih, third seed Zulfiqar A. Qadir and fifth seed Mohammad Bilal have already made it to the knockout rounds on Sunday.

Sultan, Haider and Sohail have maintained unbeaten runs in their five outings while Asjad has won four out of five.

The remaining nine players to feature in the last-16 round will be confirmed after the completion of four sessions of the league stage on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, four century breaks highlighted the day and took the total number of breaks to 17 in six days.

Asjad, who held highest break of the event so far (139), scored another of 127 in the ffith frame while routing Hamza Ilyas 4-1 (65-72, 67-10, 69-23, 61-29, 127-1).

Sohail hammered 106 in the opening frame as he accounted for Abdul Hameed 4-1 the scores being 117-2, 31-68, 76-1, 60-39, 77-9.

Reigning NBP Cup champion Mohammad Ijaz cracked 102 in the fifth frame, his third century break of the event, while getting the better of his elder brother Sajjad 4-2 (71-29, 14-86, 62-53, 33-76, 102-8, 75-13).

Haris struck a break of 100 in the fifth frame defeating Abdul Majid 4-1 (74-1, 28-53, 83-32, 58-49, 112-17).

Results: Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (68-56, 78-28, 69-34, 69-62); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-3 (45-68, 95-6, 49-67, 66-32, 45-70, 71-33, 57-18); Ali Raza (Sindh) bt Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (56-32, 48-40, 59-10, 63-57); Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab) bt Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad) 4-1 (57-21, 80-22, 66-15, 57-70, 80-5); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (76-50, 63-71, 64-14, 41-64, 68-46, 49-7); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (70-8, 77-7, 107-18, 62-15); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-1 (65-72, 67-10, 69-23, 61-29, 127-1); Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (walkover); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-3 (74-30, 17-69, 48-59, 72-22, 58-21, 37-58, 73-45); Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) bt Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (67-26, 52-13, 83-1, 61-34); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) 4-1 (76-7, 64-16, 74-12, 31-55, 67-55); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-3 (56-12, 33-72, 72-2, 43-76, 17-57, 58-24, 65-27); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) 4-2 (77-6, 89-1, 37-75, 65-6, 33-70, 63-39); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (51-82, 58-31, 116-4, 70-62, 65-53); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Abdul Hameed (Balochistan) 4-1 (117-2, 31-68, 76-1, 60-39, 77-9); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-2 (71-29, 14-86, 62-53, 33-76, 102-8, 75-13); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt S. Habib Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (71-11, 75-8, 77-1, 47-13); Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) bt Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (60-39, 54-47, 78-37, 60-65, 45-58, 64-52); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-1 (74-1, 28-53, 83-32, 58-49, 112-17); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Saeed Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (63-32, 60-16, 70-33, 60-30); Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (61-1, 77-8, 13-67, 64-7, 58-7); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) 4-0 (71-39, 62-60, 65-9, 55-23); Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) bt Farukh Usman (Sindh) 4-3 (58-36, 29-61, 78-24, 70-49, 37-49, 45-65, 68-44); M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (89-18, 4-73, 10-54, 63-33, 66-61, 28-57, 73-51).

Sunday’s remaining results: Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (68-6, 52-69, 49-59, 37-78, 62-48, 44-31, 57-37); Ali Haider (Punjab) bt Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) 4-0 (71-0, 81-16, 80-24, 60-43); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-3 (67-18, 38-48, 46-71, 67-46, 8-63, 63-7, 64-23).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) vs Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad) vs S. Habib Shah (Bal)ochistan), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abu Saim (Punjab) vs Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) vs Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 12noon: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Ali Haider (Punjab), Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) vs Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mirza Waqas Baig (Punjab) vs Farukh Usman (Sindh), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), vs Haris Tahir (Punjab), Shafiullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Abdul Majid (Sindh), Saeed Khan (Balochistan) vs M. Ahsan Javaid (Punjab).

At 2pm: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Shaikh M. Mudssir (Punjab), Amir Tariq (Punjab) vs Musaddiq Mehmood (Islamabad), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) vs Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) vs Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) vs Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan), Abdul Jalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs M. Imran Qamar (Punjab).

At 4pm: Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad), Rabish Pervez (Balochistan) vs Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) vs Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs M. Hamza Ilyas (Punjab), M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) vs Ahmed Shah (Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2019