Jubilee Insurance National Snooker begins with a bang

KARACHI: All the eight seeded cueists got off to winning starts while unseeded Imran Shahzad registered the first century break of the Jubilee Insurance 41st National Snooker Championship 2016 which cued off here at on Monday.

Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Bilal, Shahram Changezi, Mohammad Majid Ali, Babar Masih, Shahid Aftab and Sharjeel Mahmood, the top eight cueists of the country, began their campaign for the new calendar year on a happy note, as did the quartet of Sultan Mohammad, Rambail Gul, Abdul Sattar and Imran Shahzad, the other ranked cueists who earned direct qualification into the event.

It was not a happy beginning, however, for the wild card trio of Mohammad Yousuf, Hunain Aamir and Mohammad Faheem who lost to their respective rivals in their maiden outing.

A record number of 52 cueists, having been divided into eight groups for the preliminary rounds, have entered the competition which will continue for a record period of 13 days. The winner will be receiving a handsome purse of Rupees one lac and the total prize money will be to the tune of Rs 272,000.

Top seeded Mohammad Asif, a former world champion, started his campaign with 4-2 win over local lad Agha Bilawal while second seed Mohammad Sajjad triumphed over Mohammad Ijaz by the identical scoreline, chalking breaks of 74 and 88 to offset the ones of 52 and 69 compiled by his threatening rival.

Third seeded Mohammad Bilal overcame a splendid fightback from Iftikhar Khan to elbow him out in a seven-frame thriller while fourth seed Shahram Changezi was similarly tested by Aamir Shahzad in another encounter extending to the full distance of seven frames.

Fifth seed Mohammad Majid Ali was given a run for his money by wild card entrant Mohammad Faheem while sixth seed Babar Masih scalped Hunain Amir, also a recipient of wild card entry. Mohammad Yousuf, the third wild card entrant, was blown away by seventh seed Shahid Aftab while eighth seed Sharjeel Mahmood showed no mercy for Mohammad Aqeel.

Imran Shahzad, one of the most accomplished cueists of the country, demonstrated his pedigree by whipping Asif Toba in straight frames. After registering breaks of 57 and 53 in the opening frame, he fired one of 51 in the third frame before recording the first century break of 117 in the fourth frame.

Results:

Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-2 (64-46, 36-82, 38-68, 67-24, 62-25, 64-25); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab) 4-2 (81-19, 57-70, 8-85, 78-0, 88-0, 58-34); Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) bt Iftikhar Khan (Sindh) 4-3 (76-35, 94-0, 22-54, 10-55, 63-39, 41-62, 65-43); Shahram Changezi (Isb) bt Aamir Shahzad (KPK) 4-3 (77-29, 30-48, 24-62, 22-59, 59-25, 71-30, 67-37); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) bt Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) 4-3 (30-69, 94-0, 78-95, 57-18, 36-65, 13-81, 60-36); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Hunain Amir (Punjab) 4-2 (39-61, 62-22, 53-56, 70-14, 61-16, 51-46); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-1 (81-35, 64-51, 23-70, 53-32, 55-7); Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) bt Mohammad Aqeel (KPK) 4-1 (66-41, 70-16, 36-67, 61-14, 70-41); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-0 (110-31, 72-40, 81-44, 125-8); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Ubaid Khan (Bal) 4-0 (58-17, 65-31, 105-15, 48-24); Rambail Gul (KPK) bt Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-1 (30-56, 84-23, 56-14, 124-0, 71-8); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Fawad Khan (KPK) 4-1 (70-44, 67-51, 77-14, 36-66, 43-21).