Upsets the order of the day at ranking snooker

Published July 30, 2019
KARACHI: Prodigy Ahsan Ramzan takes a shot to pot the red ball against top seed Mohammad Bilal (not in picture) at the ranking snooker championship on Monday.
KARACHI: Prodigy Ahsan Ramzan takes a shot to pot the red ball against top seed Mohammad Bilal (not in picture) at the ranking snooker championship on Monday.

KARACHI: It was an unusual day in ranking snooker event when barring two exceptions, half-a-dozen seeded players tasted astonishing defeats in the 11th National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ranking snooker championship at bank’s sports complex on Monday.

Those who fell prey include top seed Mohammad Bilal, fourth seed Ali Haider, fifth seed Babar Masih, sixth seed and defending champion Mohammad Ijaz, seventh seed Mohammad Asif and eighth seed Agha Bilawal.

Second seed Asjad Iqbal chalked up 4-1 victory over Mohammad Ahsan Javaid as third seed Zulfiqar A Qadir had a rest day.

Prodigy Ahsan Ramzan, semi-finalist of this year’s national U-18 and U-21 championships, pulled off the biggest upset while routing reigning national champion Mohammad Bilal 4-1(68-30, 74-50, 70-47, 24-77, 69-55).

Bilal, who together with Asjad won the IBSF World Snooker Team Cup at Doha recently, was at the receiving end and could only win a frame.

Sindh’s Sohail Shahzad hammered a century break of 128 in the third frame while getting the better of Hamza Ilyas straight 58-51, 62-19, 128-0, 56-20.

This is the second century break after Babar Masih’s 136 the other day.

Results: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Ali Haider (Punjab) 4-1 (69-10, 91-46, 66-23, 4-73, 75-0); Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-2 (71-39, 82-48, 32-56, 18-40, 77-52, 70-44); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (77-42, 20-72, 73-49, 50-73, 63-33, 88-23); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-0 (58-51, 62-19, 128-0, 56-20); Rashid Aziz (Punjab) bt Babar Masih (Punjab) 4-2 (79-0, 89-26, 42-71, 95-6, 24-75, 65-33); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt M. Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-1 (54-34, 20-86, 61-27, 68-53, 65-14); Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-3 (73-60, 15-66, 76-31, 15-59, 69-15, 5-104, 74-54); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Sharjeel

Mehmood (Khyber ) 4-3 (109-20, 22-61, 53-67, 70-45, 68-17, 36-61, 99-0); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (83-16, 64-13, 9-81, 0-94, 67-55, 52-3); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (64-2, 22-68, 104-0, 23-51, 78-8, 0-72, 100-16); Amir Tariq (Punjab) bt Hamza Ilyas (Punjab) 4-0 (63-29, 68-15, 73-1, 60-32); Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) 4-1 (68-30, 74-50, 70-47, 24-77, 69-55); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad) 4-1 (80-15, 73-22, 84-0, 22-62, 84-0).

Sunday’s remaining results: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Mudassir (Islamab) 4-2 (65-44, 54-12, 51-63, 50-61, 64-24, 59-47); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (70-57, 44-76, 75-44, 72-54, 4-88, 88-9); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-3 (21-76, 78-56, 13-94, 64-36, 62-60, 34-71, 61-57).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Agha Bilawal (Sindh) vs Sohail Shahzad (Sindh), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) vs Amir Tariq (Punjab), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) vs Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Mubashir Raza (Punjab) vs Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh).

At 12noon: Babar Masih (Punjab) vs Haris Tahir (Punjab), Rashid Aziz (Punjab) vs M. Imran Qamar (Punjab), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) vs Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab), Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab) vs Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 2pm: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) vs Abu Saim (Punjab), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) vs Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ali Haider (Punjab) vs Mohammad Shahbaz (Punjab), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) vs Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab).

At 4pm: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) vs Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) vs Abdul Raziq (Balochistan), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) vs Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) vs Mohammad Mudassir (Islamabad).

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

A hasty retreat
Updated 28 Nov, 2024

A hasty retreat

Govt should not extend its campaign of violence against PTI and its leaders, thinking it now has the upper hand. Enough is enough.
Lebanon truce
28 Nov, 2024

Lebanon truce

WILL it hold? That is the question many in the Middle East and beyond will be asking after a 60-day ceasefire ...
MDR anomaly removed
28 Nov, 2024

MDR anomaly removed

THE State Bank’s decision to remove its minimum deposit rate requirement for conventional banks on deposits from...
Islamabad march
Updated 27 Nov, 2024

Islamabad march

WITH emotions running high, chaos closes in. As these words were being written, rumours and speculation were all...
Policing the internet
27 Nov, 2024

Policing the internet

IT is chilling to witness how Pakistan — a nation that embraced the freedoms of modern democracy, and the tech ...
Correcting sports priorities
27 Nov, 2024

Correcting sports priorities

IT has been a lingering battle that has cast a shadow over sports in Pakistan: who are the national sports...