Shahzad marches on at snooker tournament

Cueist overcomes Perwani to enter semi-finals .

KARACHI:

Imran Shahzad continued his impressive run at the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship as the seasoned cueist entered the semi-finals after edging out Naveen Perwani in a tense battle at the Karachi Club yesterday.

The sea-saw contest witnessed both players exchange leads but it was Lahore’s Shahzad who prevailed over the former national champion to advance to the next round.

Shahzad, who defeated former world amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf in the prequarter-finals, conceded the first frame 22-74 with Perwani managing break of 50. He levelled the match claiming the next frame 76-44. The score soon became 2-2 as Shahzad won the fourth frame 112-22 after losing the third 53-69.

Perwani secured a 4-2 lead by winning the next two frames 56-44 and 64-25 before Shahzad hit back to win the next three frames 102-19, 79-27 and 120-0 to seal a spot in the semi-finals.

“It was a tense battle,” Shahzad told The Express Tribune. “I have played a lot against Perwani and he has always been a tough opponent. For the first time in the event I have gained confidence because of this victory,” said Shahzad who will face Mohammad Asif in the semi-final tomorrow.

Meanwhile Asif, from Punjab, brought the high-flying former Sindh champion Umair Alam down to earth with a 5-3 win in the other quarter-final.

The other semi-final will be played between Sindh’s Sohail Shehzad and Abdul Sattar today.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th,  2011.