Stage set for new champion in Snooker Cup

After the exit of top seed Asjad Iqbal, Asia number two Mohammad Sajjad also crashed out in the league stage. —File Photo

KARACHI The Snooker Cup which entered the knockout stage after completion of league at the Karachi Club on Friday will throw a new champion as top two seeds made unceremonious exit making room for outsiders to storm into the semi-finals.

Those who stepped into the last four include sixth seed Sohail Shehzad and fourth seed Imran Shehzad from group 'A', 13th seed Shahram Changezi and third seed Mohammad Asif Toba from group 'B'.

Top seed and winner of the second NBP ranking tournament held in Islamabad, Asjad Iqbal, and his mentor the second seed Mohammad Sajjad met their fate and could not progress beyond the league.

Despite losing his last encounter 2-4 to Mohammad Asif, Sindh's Sohail Shehzad topped group 'A' with a frame difference of 11 plus. He had five wins and two defeats to his credit.

Punjab's Imran Shehzad, who too ended his group engagements with five wins and two defeats, finished runner-up with frame difference of eight plus although he had beaten Sohail 4-1 in the league. He gave a 4-2 drubbing to Asjad in the last match.

Islamabad-based Shahram Changezi has staged a comeback after a layoff as he finished on top of group 'B' securing six victories and a defeat. He ended up with a frame difference of 12 plus. He thrashed Nauman Awan (KPK) in the last fixture which includes a century break (105) in the second frame.

Punjabs another cueist Mohammad Asif Toba had to be content with second slot in the group with frame difference of eight plus. He overcame Mohammad Sajjad 4-3 in the outing to finish with six wins and a defeat.

The best of 11 frames semi-finals will be played on Saturday. Shahram Changezi faces Imran Shehzad in the first pre-final at 11.00am while Sohail Shehzad is pitted against Mohammad Asif Toba in the second at 3.00pm.

Results
Rambel Gul (KPK) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (65-25, 2-61, 76-34, 79-23, 26-55, 67-31); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-2 (38-66, 64-56, 63-42, 15-117, 60-50, 56-12); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-2 (77-28, 88-24, 50-75, 64-62, 69-78, 59-31); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Qasim Kamani (Sindh) 4-0 (76-67, 64-57, 61-23, 54-34); Shahram Changezi (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (KPK) 4-0 (65-35, 125-8, 71-20, 87-18); Imran Qamar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Javed (Punjab) 4-1 (69-43, 65-6, 12-68, 82-50, 66-53); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) 4-3 (75-62, 61-50, 68-39, 0-87, 0-87, 0-76, 66-46); Sharjeel Mehmood (KPK) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-3 (29-63, 71-49, 52-67, 37-58, 58-7, 28-25).

Saturday's fixtures

Semi-finals (Best of 11 frames) Shahram Changezi v Imran Shehzad at 11.00am; Sohail Shehzad v Mohammad Asif Toba at 3.00pm.

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