KARACHI, Oct 2: Seasoned Imran Shehzad lived up to his credentials when he coasted to 6-5 frames victory over Shahram Changezi in the all-Punjab battle to sneak into sixth final of his career in a national ranking event at Karachi Club on Saturday.

The fourth seed Imran, who at one stage led 4-1 in the semi-final of the Snooker Cup, came from the brink of defeat to rout his opponent in the best of 11 frames encounter.

Imran took three-and-a-half hours to post 50-55, 57-17, 78-33, 72-46, 68-49, 63-75, 46-60, 35-78, 57-60, 59-24, 75-16 win over 13th seed Shahram.

Imran, who lost to eventual champion Asjad Iqbal 3-6 in the semi-final of second NBP Cup in Islamabad this year, is drawn to meet Sindh's Sohail Shehzad in the title clash on Sunday after the latter sprang a minor upset by getting past third seed Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 6-4 in the second pre-final.

Sohail recovered from 2-4 down to the delight of local fans to impose 47-55, 60-45, 30-64, 43-77, 69-33, 45-54, 103-0, 57-44, 116-0, 74-5 victory.

After a shaky start, Imran settled and surged to 4-1 (50-55, 57-17, 78-33, 72-46, 68-49) against Shahram in the first pre-final. Needing only two frames to win, he lost concentration and lost the next four frames 63-75, 46-60, 35-78, 57-60 to trail 4-5. Finally, he got his act together to wrap up the match taking the last two frames 59-24, 75-16.

Sohail Shehzad was also jittery in the beginning against Toba but staged a comeback to register victory and qualify for his maiden final of a ranking contest. Sohail also piled up two brisk breaks of 60 and 64 in the seventh and ninth frames.

Results:

Semi-finals:

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Punjab) 6-5 (50-55, 57-17, 78-33, 72-46, 68-49, 63-75, 46-60, 35-78, 57-60, 59-24, 75-16); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 6-4 (47-55, 60-45, 30-64, 43-77, 69-33, 45-54, 103-0, 57-44, 116-0, 74-5).

Sunday's fixtures:

Final (Best of 15 frames) Imran Shehzad v Sohail Shehzad 11.00am.