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Imran, Saim defeat seeded cueists at Ranking Snooker Back To Main

The News 

Syed Khalid Mahmood

KARACHI: Defending champion Imran Shahzad toppled sixth seed Abdul Sattar while unseeded Abu Saim whacked fifth seed Naveen Kumar Perwani on the third day of league matches in the Jubilee Insurance 3rd Ranking Snooker Championship 2012 here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

The other six seeds, Mohammad Asif, Asjad Iqbal, Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Sajjad, Vishan Gir and Mohammad Majid, prevailed over their respective opponents to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the event, being contested by 32 cueists, divided in four groups.

Imran Shahzad, who performed inconsistently in the first couple of national tournaments of the year to dip below 16 in the rankings, kept his chances of retaining the title alive with his second victory in as many days. The top ranked cueist of 2011, however, will have to sustain his winning form for the next few days in order to force his way into the quarter-finals.

Abu Saim, one of the top cueists of the recent past, showed glimpses of his sublime form while routing Naveen Perwani, who has now jeopardised his chances of staying afloat by suffering two defeats in as many days.

Second seed Asjad and third seed Sultan succeeded in extending their unbeaten run in the competition but giant-killer Mohammad Ishtiaq, who shocked fourth seed Sajjad and fifth seed Perwani on successive days, tasted his first defeat at the hands of Sharjeel Mahmood.

Shehram Changezi kept his unbeaten record intact with his third victory on a trot. Having re-entered the national circuit last month, he has already made his presence felt in both the ranking tournaments he has contested.

Mohammad Yousuf, a former world champion, failed against seventh seed Gir, as the youngster showed fine resilience in an encounter going to the full distance of seven frames.

Fourth seed Sajjad, who has won the national crown twice in last four years, was made to work extremely hard for his 4-3 win over Farhan Noor. It turned out to be the most fiercely fought contest of the day.

All the participating cueists will be playing four more league matches, which conclude on Monday. The knockout phase will start the following day with the quarter-finals.

Results: Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Shah Khan (KPK) 4-2 (57-30, 67-19, 80-0, 44-61, 35-51, 57-1; Mohammad Sajjad (Pjb) bt Farhan Noor (Pjb) 4-3 (17-69, 59-23, 41-73, 69-18, 44-45, 54-42, 76-45); Asjad Iqbal (Pjb) bt Mohammad Afzal (Pjb) 4-1 (9-65, 67-22, 67-55, 61-35, 53-12); Mohammad Asif (Pjb) bt Bilawal Agha (Sindh) 4-1 (75-34, 55-28, 72-10, 45-69, 72-20); Mohammad Majid (Pjb) bt Farrukh Usman Brohi (Sindh) 4-1 (59-48, 56-59, 60-15, 81-6, 58-14); Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Pjb) 4-3 (69-41, 8-82, 28-73, 97-10, 54-61, 64-51, 48-32); Imran Shahzad (Pjb) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-2 (60-43, 86-45, 69-25, 36-54, 51-55, 81-45); Abu Saim (Pjb) bt Naveen Kumar Perwani (Sindh) 4-1 (72-22, 5-93, 48-59, 72-10, 78-30); Asif Toba (Pjb) bt Mohammad Nazir (Pjb) 4-1 (71-17, 91-30, 71-30, 59-74, 115-12); Shahid Aftab (Pjb) bt Abdul Rauf Kurd (Bal) 4-1 (67-15, 91-2, 25-94, 76-30, 69-14); Mohammad Imran (Pjb) bt Mohammad Akmal (Sindh) 4-1 (61-22, 82-47, 56-16, 49-66, 60-17); Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) bt Zahoor Ahmed (Bal) 4-1 (50-62, 69-42, 67-09, 74-29, 59-51); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Mohammad Javed (Pjb) 4-2 (57-67, 70-13, 62-44, 58-38, 25-51, 67-22); Shehram Changezi (Isb) bt Javed Ansari (Sindh) 4-2 (52-59, 66-30, 61-32, 71-46, 24-65, 72-5); Mohammad Bilal (Pjb) bt Sohail Shahzad 4-2 (76-43, 49-69, 85-8, 78-1, 38-73, 72-59); Sharjeel Mahmood (KPK) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 4-2 (62-12, 64-21, 36-68, 85-7, 33-65, 63-26).

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/