Defending champion Asjad Iqbal secured a hard-earned win over Khurram Agha to keep his chances alive at the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship underway at the Karachi Club.
Iqbal, who suffered a shock defeat to Lahore’s Imran Qamar on the opening day of the tournament, was made to fight hard by Agha as the battle lasted the full length but eventually came out a 4-3 winner.
Iqbal started off on a positive note, registering a 70-38 win. Agha hit back and claimed the next two frames 69-21 and 63-41 before the defending champion levelled with a 82-19 win.
The sea-saw battle continued as Agha took the next frame 71-16 before Iqbal clinched the following two frames 78-40 and 63-54 to win the match.
Yousuf, Sultan, Asif enter pre-quarters
Meanwhile, Punjab’s Mohammad Asif Toba entered the pre quarter-finals after registering a 4-2 win over Shah Khan, representing Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Toba won the match with frame wins of 55-42, 19-66, 27-52, 54-43, 68-17 and 59-31.
Sindh’s Sultan Mohammad also made his way into the knock-out stages, beating Balochistan’s Zahoor Ahmed with straight-frames win of 50-44, 53-16, 59-1 and 54-30.
Former world amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf had an easy day courtesy a walkover against Hameedullah. Meanwhile, experienced cueist Naveen Pervani also kept his hopes alive, overcoming Rashid Mehmood in a marathon contest. He won the match 67-34, 44-69, 96-25, 13-55, 46-59, 63-39 and 66-2.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011.
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