KARACHI: Haris Tahir of Punjab pulled off a major upset as he downed fourth seed province-mate Shahid Aftab in the 48th NBP National Snooker Championship here at the NBP Sports Complex Snooker Arena on Monday.

Haris edged Aftab 4-3 (9-106, 81-20, 69-41, 65-49 03-54, 01-93, 66-47) to move into the next round.

Cueists from Punjab dominated the first day proceedings as Owaisullah Munir, Ahsan Ramzan, Babar Masih and Mohammad Sajid cruised into the next round, winning their matches with an identical 4-0 scoreline.

National Bank’s Asjad Iqbal, Islamabad’s Shan Namat, Akash Rafique of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also registered flawless 4-0 victories.

Results (first round): Shan Namat (Islamabad) bt Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) 69-42, 63-33, 107-09, 53-34; Asjad Iqbal (NBP) bt Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 70-35, 77-30, 63-48, 65-30; Awaisullah Munir (Punjab) bt Farhan Noor (Punjab) 66-43, 66-53, 79-04, 134-01(114); Mohammad Asif (NBP) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 19-73, 21-69, 16-82, 61-28, 102-22, 51-51, 66-42, 112-13(98); Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Shahid Aftab (Punjab) 09-106, 81-20, 69-41, 65-49, 03-54, 01-93, 66-47); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 69-66, 22-92(61), 18-75(62), 63-17, 01-99, 48-39, 53-04; Adil Khan (Balochistan) bt Fazal Umar (Sindh) 52-27, 67-48, 46-58, 28-65, 59-46, 84-11; Ahsan Ramzan (Punjab) bt Zaib Khan (Balochistan) 61-46, 81-40, 57-49, 77-16(77); Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 65-46, 72-45, 01-66, 60-17, 45-66, 64-10; Mohammad Sajjad (NBP) bt Basit Ali (Balochistan) 66-32, 78-27, 107-27(67), 55-47); Aakash Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Abdul Rehman (Punjab) 67-59, 70-40, 67-60, 54-10; Abdul Javed (Islamabad) bt Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) 23-77, 52-09, 59-46, 79-28, 91-0; Haris Tahir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) 67-47, 58-23, 101-01(86), 23-78(59), 65-11; Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Sirbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 52-42, 74-17(63), 142-0(102), 60-08.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2024