KARACHI: Former junior world champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar closely missed a century break as top eight seeds including defending champion Mohammad Bilal made fruitful starts on the opening day of Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

Naseem, who is also eighth seed and by virtue of that direct qualifier, hammered an efficient break of 97 in the opening frame as he was home straight 116-5, 83-6, 86-1, 65-42 against Mohammad Yaqoob of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Top seed and two-time world champion Mohammad Asif conceded two frames before winning over Mohammad Nazeer in six frames 38-77, 58-25, 47-65, 83-5, 70-0, 65-1. Second seed Bilal was extended to limits before getting the better of Shariq Ali in the first session 74-53, 18-61, 19-64, 86-27, 8-98, 82-27, 69-27.

Third seed Asjad Iqbal and fourth seed and former national champion Mohammad Sajjad won their opening days matches in contrasting styles. While Asjad rallied to overcome former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba 4-3 (50-74, 16-51, 28-51, 74-94, 60-8, 83-44, 58-44) the latter outplayed Mohammad Imran straight ( 64-53, 89-42, 65-36, 54-52).

Results:

Mohammad Bilal (Punjab/SBP) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-3 (74-53, 18-61, 19-64, 86-27, 8-98, 82-27, 69-27); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Saad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (64-14, 77-5, 103-19, 7-53, 88-11); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) 4-0 (walk over); Mohammad Asif (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-2 (38-77, 58-25, 47-65, 83-5, 70-0, 65-1); Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab/SBP) bt Saqib Bashir (Balochistan) 4-2 (53-17, 70-2), 9-80, 48-45, 37-59, 90-0); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt M. Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-3 (48-60, 46-74, 64-33, 62-29, 60-53, 15-66, 74-1); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (64-53, 89-42, 65-36, 54-52); Umer Farooq (Punjab) bt S. Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-0 (70-17, 62-8, 63-54, 60-14); Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt A. Sattar Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (65-95, 73-46, 61-29, 15-54, 63-50, 19-65, 72-21); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-3 (50-74, 16-51, 28-51, 74-94, 60-8, 83-44, 58-44); Mohammad Umar Khan (Punjab) bt Mohammad Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 4-0 (58-25, 68-15, 78-41, 58-17); Ali Haider (Punjab/SBP) bt Shan Naimat (Islamabad) 4-2 (64-31, 91-4, 35-58, 58-8, 38-62, 61-34); Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) bt Obaid Khan (Balochistan) 4-0 (108-3, 47-15, 68-28, 76-17); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Usman Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (54-23, 51-16, 73-0, 52-32); Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-2 (71-17, 88-3, 53-65, 13-63, 59-20, 72-38); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Ahsan Ramzan (Punjjab/SBP) 4-3 (52-68, 34-86, 77-56, 35-64, 67-54, 64-59, 53-42); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt HarisTahir (Punjab/NBP) 4-0 (70-36, 51-43, 54-39, 77-20); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Yaqoob (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (116-5, 83-6, 86-1, 65-42); Mubashir Raza (Punjab) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Balochistan) 4-0 (85-39, 68-15, 66-18, 67-22); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) 4-2 (58-50, 41-56, 101-6, 51-58, 66-10, 60-13).

Monday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Bilal vs Mohammad Ahsan Javaid; Saad Khan vs Shariq Ali (Sindh); Rabish Pervez vs Aakash Rafique; Mohammad Asif vs Saqib Bashir; Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir vs Mohammad Nazeer; AmeerHamza Khan vs M. Jawed Ansari.

At 12noon: Mohammad Sajjad vs S. Meesam Zaidi; UmerFarooq vs Mohammad Imran; Hamza Akbar vs A. Sattar Khan; Asjad Iqbal vs Mohammad Rizwan Hashmi; Mohammad Umar Khan vs Mohammad Asif Toba; Sharjeel Mehmood vs Ali Haider .

At 2pm: Mohammad Ijaz vs Usman Ahmed; Abdul Sattar vs Obaid Khan;

Mohammad Ajmal vs Ali Raza; Sohail Shahzad vs Shahid Aftab; HarisTahir vs Ahsan Ramzan; Ali Hamza vs Saif Ali Khan.

At 4pm: Mohammad Naseem Akhtar vs Abdul Ghafoor; Mubashir Raza vs Mohammad Yaqoob; Agha Bilawal vs Aamir Shahzad; Babar Masih vs Ahmed Shah; Zulfiqar A. Qadir vs Mohammad Ali; Ibrahim Khan vs Mohammad Majid Ali.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2020