Little-known Zulfiqar stuns Asif at National Snooker
KARACHI: Little known Zulfiqar A. Qadir of Sindh was on song as he registered a century break while stunning second seed and former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif 4-2 in the 39th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.
Zulfiqar, runner-up of the Sindh Cup, demonstrated awesome performance making two out of two in group B. He caught the eye with a magnificent 101 break in the second frame to drew level (one-all) and went on to post his memorable victory over former world amateur champion. He was home 34-65, 113-0, 71-21, 50-20, 30-70, 66-59.
It is pertinent to mention that the Sindh No 2 had beaten Fawad Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the other day.
In the three other upsets, Mohammad Asif Toba shocked third seed and a former national champion Shahid Aftab 4-3 the scores being 47-65, 64-11, 12-55, 41-52, 66-53, 64-56, 72-62.
Islamabad-based Shahram Changezi registered his second straight victory while getting the better of fifth seed Abdul Sattar of Sindh in the fully stretched battle 73-20, 13-71, 96-0, 43-64, 66-9, 42-60, 69-26.
Asian junior No 2 Mohammad Majid Ali also continued his winning spree while routing 10th seed Sharjeel Mehmood 4-1. He was home 81-14, 73-28, 55-43, 40-63, 70-21.
Results:
Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Abdul Raheem (Punjab) 4-0 (55-28, 59-28, 57-50, 68-31); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-1 (62-18, 68-34, 14-64, 51-40, 89-19); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 4-1 (first frame awarded to Khurram, 93-23, 66-28, 55-71, 73-7); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (81-14, 73-28, 55-43, 40-63, 70-21); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (94-23, 84-17, 63-8, 89-20); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-2 (61-44, 28-77, 72-24, 27-67, 75-32, 63-22); Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (34-65, 113-0, 71-21, 50-20, 30-70, 66-59); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 4-3 (47-65, 64-11, 12-55, 41-52, 66-53, 64-56, 72-62); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt S. Kamran-ur- Rehman (Balochistan) 4-1 (24-72, 59-17, 72-53, 58-1, 55-2); Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (73-20, 13-71, 96-0, 43-64, 66-9, 42-60, 69-26); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (74-15, 73-17, 73-33, 53-44); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-1 (72-53, 64-49, 49-77, 84-27, 73-31); Mohammad Faiq Malik (Punjab) bt Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) 4-2 (11-63, 18-51, 56-35, 76-6, 69-0, 89-0); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-2 (65-23, 55-64, 69-50, 74-4, 38-72, 77-65); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) 4-0 (72-21, 71-40, 88-0, 64-8).
Tuesday’s fixtures:
At 10.00am: Allah Noor (Balochistan) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab), Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) v Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Aneel Emanuel (Sindh) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mujtahid Ali Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Abdul Raheem (junior four).
At 12.00noon: Najeebullah (Balochistan) v Mohammad Faheem (junior three), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) v Haris Nadeem (junior two), Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab) v Mohammad Majid Ali (junior one), Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) v Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
At 2.00pm: Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Amir Tariq (Punjab) v Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) v Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Abu Saim (Punjab) v Kamran-ur-Rehman (Balochistan).
At 4.00pm: Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Babar Masih (Punjab) v Mohammad Imran (Punjab).