Sultan shocks Majid in National Snooker

KARACHI: Sultan Muhammad, a qualifier from Sindh, surprised fourth seed Muhammad Majid Ali on the fifth day of league matches in the Jubilee Insurance 44th National Snooker Championship 2019 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

Top seed Babar Masih, third seed Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and fifth seed Muhammad Bilal have already forced their way into the knockout phase as the preliminary round matches, being contested by 56 cueists, divided equally in eight groups, will be coming to an end on Tuesday (tomorrow). Seventh seed Shahid Aftab, who had captured the national crown about a decade ago, has kept his hopes alive of having another go at the title with sterling performance in the ongoing championship.

Second seed and defending champion Muhammad Asif seems in a spot of bother in the Group B despite winning three of his five matches. He will need a comprehensive victory in his sixth and final league outing to move into the pre-quarter-finals.

Fourth seed Majid Ali has jeopardized his chances of advancing to the next round by succumbing to defeat at the hands of a qualifier while sixth seed Sharjeel Mahmood and eighth seed Rambail Gul have also suffered losses in the preliminary rounds.

Sultan and Majid were engaged in a fierce battle that went to the full distance of seven frames. Majid showed his class during the course of compiling breaks of 71 and 54 in the tensely fought encounter but it was the obdurate Sultan who prevailed in the decisive seventh frame to cause an upset.

Results: Sultan Muhammad (Sindh) bt Muhammad Majid Ali (Pjb) 4-3 (15-104, 69-13, 50-41, 1-63, 71-19, 1-86, 61-37); Ahsan Ramzan (Pjb) bt Abdul Jalil (KP) 4-2 (56-19, 55-25, 44-54, 32-62, 73-11, 61-53); Saif Ali Khan (Bal) bt Ali Raza (Sindh) 4-1 (21-65, 68-42, 46-9, 74-16, 60-28); Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir (Sindh) bt Aamir Tariq (Pjb) 4-2 (62-20, 34-59, 65-2, 8-71, 59-57, 67-40); Shaikh Mudassir (Pjb) bt Bahadur Khan (Bal) 4-0 (94-37, 76-47, 60-19, 128-8); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Musaddiq Mahmood (Isb) 4-2 (57-46, 74-13(54), 36-69, 53-34, 50-57, 90-46); Muhammad Asif (Pjb) bt Sarbuland Khan (KP) 4-0 (118-14, 125-1, 80-28, 93-1); Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh) bt Hamza Ilyas (Pjb) 4-2 (12-71, 62-43, 73-6, 77-31, 41-47, 62-14); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Mubashir Raza (Pjb) 4-3 (69-30, 41-80, 45-51, 69-24, 24-103, 81-38, 63-31); Babar Masih (Pjb) bt Rabish Pervez (Bal) 4-0 (82-32, 75-0, 62-55, 77-0); Muhammad Mudassir (Isb) bt Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh) 4-2 (81-65, 38-66, 3-53, 59-40, 76-45, 75-65); Muhammad Shahbaz (Pjb) bt Farhan Khan (KP) 4-2 (66-24, 43-64, 64-21, 66-16, 22-64, 76-47); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Abu Saim (Pjb) 4-2 (41-57, 60-46, 72-29, 76-47, 40-66, 71-0); Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) bt Aakash Rafique (KP) 4-0 (70-45, 70-60, 67-54, 60-55); Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) bt Abdul Hameed (Bal) 4-0 (95-11, 71-18, 58-7, 54-37); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (53-54, 41-60, 99-7, 64-2, 67-8, 38-71, 61-32); Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) bt Ameer Hamza Khan (Isb) 4-3 (68-2, 29-47, 34-55, 60-52, 0-70, 75-67, 65-45); Aamir Sohail (KP) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-3 (29-51, 61-57, 6-69, 79-20, 37-61, 64-54, 88-1); Haris Tahir (Pjb) bt Saeed Khan (Bal) 4-0 (71-12, 60-50, 59-7, 43-12); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Abdul Majid (Sindh) 4-3 (18-75, 59-34, 25-65, 6-74, 55-53, 63-3, 55-31); Muhammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-0 (71-0, 81-16, 80-24, 60-43); Ali Haider (Pjb) bt Abdul Raziq (Bal) 4-3 (49-57, 57-41, 31-56, 54-61, 71-9, 78-25, 69-35); Rambail Gul (KP) bt Munawwar Khaliq (Isb) 4-2 (75-15, 56-26, 53-59, 30-58, 68-41, 43-34); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Aakash Rafique (KP) 4-3 (6-83, 14-63, 29-59, 73-14, 64-48, 66-18, 73-15); Aamir Shahzad (KP) bt Abdul Hameed (Bal) 4-2 (86-35, 44-57, 54-59, 76-70, 70-31, 58-29); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Muhammad Sajjad (Pjb) 4-1 (56-59, 77-16, 88-0, 63-62, 66-38); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Muhammad Ijaz (Pjb) 4-3 (43-66, 36-86, 55-42, 53-51, 16-72, 78-7, 67-45); Aamir Sohail (KP) bt Habib Shah (Bal) 4-0 (40-14, 56-46, 57-20, 60-33).