KARACHI, March 12: Second seed Mohammad Yousuf’s dream to claim national title for an overall 14th time were dashed when he was knocked out by qualifier Mohammad Shahid 4-3 while Vishan Gir humbled sixth seed Sohail Shehzad 4-2 in the pre quarter-finals of 32nd National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Joining the above two winners in last eight were top seed and defending champion, Khurram Agha, third seed Naveen Perwani, fourth seed Imran Shehzad, ninth seed Abu Saim, 11th seed Raees Khan and qualifier Atif Mughal.

The best of nine frames quarter-finals will begin simultaneously at 10.00am followed by the semi-finals at 3.00pm.

Yousuf, who climbed to second spot in the national ranking after ending his two-year title jinx by landing the Style Cup followed by his second finish in the AKD contest last year, opened the match on a winning note by taking the first frame 45-37. However, soon he was at the mercy of Shahid, a Punjab qualifier, who won the next two frames 86-9 and 52-39.

The veteran cueist made the score 2-2all grabbing the fourth frame 62-47 only to trail again by losing the fifth 34-37. Yousuf once again recovered and brought the score on even kneel by taking sixth frame 67-57 before losing the decisive one 48-58.“I played extremely bad and was off the mark in potting the coloured balls,” said Yousuf.

Playing on adjacent table in the same session, 10th seed Vishan Gir recovered from 1-2 down to turn the tables on Sohail Shehzad 4-2. The scores were: 63-49, 56-79, 51-69, 70-65, 63-18 and 75-16.

Khurram Agha inched closer to retain the title when he notched up a 4-1 victory over eighth seed Salman Shaikh.

He piled up two half century breaks of 56 apiece in the last two frames in his 65-30, 49-18, 43-75, 64-58 and 77-42 win.

Similarly, third seed Naveen Perwani whipped Punjab No 1 Mohammad Nazeer straight 76-30, 69-21, 82-1 and 57-34.

Fourth seed Imran Shehzad also had a smooth 4-1 victory over Imtiaz Tipu. He dropped the third frame on his way to registering 53-42, 72-0, 55-64, 65-9, 89-16 win.

Qualifier Atif Mughal handed out a 4-3 defeat to Shah Khan. He was home 72-41, 81-7, 19-56, 65-40, 50-51, 52-72 and 69-27. In the other two matches, Raees Khan got past Irfan R. Khan 4-1 while Abu Saim edged out Imran Qamar 4-2.

Results (pre quarter-finals):

Naveen Perwani bt Mohammad Nazeer 4-0 (76-30, 69-21, 82-1, 57-34); Atif Mughal bt Shah Khan 4-3 (72-41, 81-7, 19-56, 65-40, 50-51, 52-72, 69-27); Raees Khan bt Irfan R. Khan 4-1 (71-20, 53-40, 54-15, 44-58, 69-23); Abu Saim bt Imran Qamar 4-2 (54-12, 68-42, 60-56, 39-49, 30-54, 83-5); Khurram Agha bt Salman Shaikh 4-1 (65-30, 49-18, 43-75, 64-58, 77-42); Mohammad Shahid bt Mohammad Yousuf 4-3 (37-45, 86-9, 52-39, 47-62, 37-34, 57-67, 58-48); Imran Shehzad bt Imtiaz Tipu 4-1 (53-42, 72-0, 55-64, 65-9, 89-16); Vishan Gir bt Sohail Shehzad 4-2 (63-49, 56-79, 51-69, 70-65, 63-18, 75-16).

Tuesday’s fixtures: (quarter-finals): Naveen Perwani v Atif Mughal, Raees Khan v Abu Saim, Khurram Agha v Mohammad Shahid, Imran Shehzad v Vishan Gir at 10.00am.