Imran Shehzad put up an all-round show as he blanked out Muhammad Yousuf in the beginning two frames but suffered a blow in the third before passing on to win the following two. PHOTO: NEFER SEHGAL/ EXPRESS
Former world amateur champion Muhammad Yousuf crashed out of the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship after losing 5-3 to Imran Shehzad who qualified for the quarter-finals of the event.
Punjabs Shehzad put up a fine show, winning the contest 97-25, 95-10, 29-71, 52-40, 70-23, 55-67, 17-60 and 63-32.
The seasoned cueist blanked out Yousuf in the beginning two frames but suffered a blow in the third before passing on to win the following two. Yousuf seemed to push back as he won the sixth and seventh frames comfortably but Shehzad ended any prospect of a come-from-behind victory for the veteran cueist and sealed the win in the eighth frame to rise into the last-eight.
Perwani struggles against Akbar
Earlier, veteran Naveen Perwani found the going tough against Punjabs Hamza Akbar before eventually sealing a 5-4 win.
Perwani started off comfortably as he won the beginning two frames. Akbar hit game in the third before Perwani again got the best of him in the fourth. The fifth frame then saw Akbar launch a brilliant fightback blanking out Perwani in the following three frames before the seasoned cueist claimed the final two to rise into the last-eight, winning the match 69-38, 71-47, 35-71, 62-15, 45-73, 32-58, 22-63, 67-27 and 61-28.
Sultan fires century break
Earlier, Sultan Muhammad put on a blistering show as he discharged a century break to outclass Punjabs Asif Toba 5-3. The Sindh cueist won the match 68-6, 53-62, 50-58, 126-1, 68-14, 15-66, 68-37 and 63-19 as he hit a part of 122 in the fourth frame to also advance to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, unseeded Umair Alam continued his butt in the tournament, overcoming the challenge posed by Nauman Awan to get the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cueist 5-3. The Karachi-based cueist, who had started the tournament in fine form when he discharged a century break on the opening day, carried on the well show, winning the match 78-33, 49-57,61-22, 58-22, 54-61, 73-17, 23-54 and 75-7.
Meanwhile, fifth-seed Sohail Shehzad cruised to a comfortable win over Bilawal Agha, winning by a resounding 5-2 margin.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment