Sports Bulletin Report
KARACHI: World Snooker Champion Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Owais Munir, and Shahid Aftab advanced into the semi-finals of the NBP 49th National Snooker Championship after beating their opponents in the quarterfinals here at the Snooker Arena of the National Bank Sports Complex on Thursday.
In the quarter-final matches, Naseem Akhtar, Sohail Shahzad, Ean Mark John and Abdul Sattar were lost their hopes. Shahid Aftab upset number four seed Sohail Shahzad and eliminated him from the championship. Mohammad Asif played the only century break of the quarter-finals. He made a break of 110 against Ean Mark John.
In the first quarter-final, Punjab’s Owais Munir defeated Sindh’s Abdul Sattar by 5-4. The frame scores were 112-16, 68-45, 36-76, 52-58, 71-13, 27-96, 66-27, 98-0and 73-64. In the second quarter-final, Punjab’s Mohammad Sajjad ousted Punjab’s Naseem Akhtar by 5-2. The frame scores were 0-87, 81-50, 20-79, 92-22, 80-13, 74-0and 57-0. In the penultimate quarterfinal, Shahid Aftab of Punjab overpowered number four seed Sohail Shahzad of Sindh by 5-4. The frame scores were 55-62, 55-44, 61-09, 7-71, 98-18, 12-66, 01-58, 56-04 and 76-65 in favor of the winner Shahid Aftab. In the fourth and last quarterfinal, Mohammad Asif of Punjab outclassed Ean Mark John of Sindh by 5-1 to reach the semifinal. The frame scores were 119-11, 68-57, 82-32, 80-23, 22-69 and 68-11 in favor of Mohammad Asif. The best-of-11 frames semifinals will be played on Friday, as the Awais Munir will face Mohammad Sajjad and Mohammad Asif will face Shahid Aftab.
