KARACHI: Punjab’s Imran Shehzad and Muhammad Asif and Sindh's Abdul Sattar and Sohail Shehzad advanced to the semi-finals of the third NBP National Ranking Snooker Championship after hard fought victories at Karachi Club on Sunday.

Former national champions Imran Shehzad and Abdul Sattar were pushed to limits before chalking exciting 5-4 victories.

Lahore-based Imran recovered from 2-1 down to overcome veteran Naveen Perwani in a tense quarter-final.

After losing the first and third frame, Imran came back strongly with a break 6-76 in the fourth frame.

However, Naveen pulled the next two frames to gain a 4-2 lead. Imran made the break of 53 and 35 in 7th frame and won the match with a two superb breaks of 56 and 53 in the decider.

Abdul Sattar came back from a 4-2 deficit to topple Muhammad Imran of Punjab in a thrilling finish. Sattar played well under pressure and won the last three frames in a row to claw his way back from the brink of defeat to notch a thrilling victory.

Another former National Champion Muhammad Asif from Faisalabad fought back from 2-1 down to overpower talented Omair Alam of Sindh. Asif's win included two fine breaks of 75 and 70 in    6th and 7th frame.

Lanky Sohail Shehzad dropped three frames before defeating Sultan Muhammad 5-3.

In the first semi-final on Monday morning, Abdul Sattar will take on Sohail Shehzad and in the second semifinal on Tuesday Imran Shehzad will be up against Muhammad Asif.

Results:

Muhammad Asif (Punjab) beat Omair Alam (Sindh) 5-3 (45-65, 31-76, 27-67, 53-40, 70-9, 97-3, 78-14, 58-28, Imran Shehzad (Punjab) beat Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 5-4 (22-74, 76-44, 53-69, 112-22, 44-56, 25-64, 109-19, 79-27, 120-0), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) beat Muhammad Imran (Punjab) 5-4 (73-55, 2-74, 60-17, 21-73, 19-59, 37-57, 57-32, 59-42, 58-52), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) beat Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) 5-3 (50-33, 71-47, 37-69, 54-10, 85-72, 7-52, 8-62, 68-29).