Defending champion Asif suffered his second defeat in four games losing 2-4 to Punjab champion Babar Masih that denied him a passage in the last-16 round.Earlier, he had lost the opener to former Sindh champion, Mohammad Ishtiaq, who together with former Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad remained unbeaten.Two other seeded players, last year’s runner-up and third seed Sultan Mohammad and fourth seed Sohail Shehzad, both from Sindh, also met their fate.

The 16 cueists who qualified for the knockout pre quarter-finals were Mohammad Ishtiaq, Babar Masih (Group A), Asjad Iqbal, Abu Saim (Group B), Imran Shehzad, Mohammad Yousuf (Group C), Umair Alam, Hamza Akbar (Group D), Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Majid Ali (Group E), Abdul Sattar, Mohammad Javed (Group F), Shahid Aftab, Amir Tariq (Group G), Sharjeel Mehmood, Farhan Noor (Group H).

Meanwhile, Islamabad champion Ayaz Khan piled up highest break of 111 in the second frame while notching up 4-1 victory against Abdul Rehman.In the earlier session, Sindh’s Sultan Mohammad chalked up a break of 110 in the last frame in his 4-3 victory against veteran Mohammad Yousuf. However, it remained short lived and was surpassed by Khan.

Results:

Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) 4-1 (67-19, 50-41, 69-49, 41-58, 76-60); Mohammad Javed (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 4-3 (71-68, 59-26, 27-68, 76-39, 32-57, 51-61, 74-44); Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Vishan Gir (Sindh) 4-2 (65-55, 63-24, 25-60, 76-8, 7-60, 65-0); Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Khurram Agha (Sindh) 4-2 (12-95, 67-53, 44-63, 67-10, 68-29, 59-1); Babar Masih (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (66-27, 58-13, 33-67, 61-55, 17-99, 64-25); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1 (69-9, 9-58, 62-9, 82-20, 58-18); Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) bt Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) 4-3 (69-36, 72-16, 28-78, 87-5, 0-66, 66-67, 112-0); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 4-2 (76-13, 48-12, 50-72, 72-4, 25-61, 53-18); Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) walkover; Ayaz Khan (Islamabad) bt Abdul Rehman (Balochistan) 4-1 (65-56, 112-0, 31-56, 58-4, 78-13); Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Khizar Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (21-42, 26-58, 52-48, 54-66, 62-53, 48-39, 71-31); Farhan Noor (Punjab) bt Naveen Parwani (Sindh) 4-3 (58-30, 1-74, 13-89, 65-57, 67-24, 1-70, 71-19); Amir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Saqib Bashir (Balochistan) 4-0 (62-2, 68-26, 57-3, 51-17); Shafi ullah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Najeeuullah Khan (Balochistan) 4-1 (82-47, 55-2, 79-13, 29-51, 60-22); Abdul Majid (Sindh) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-1 (24-49, 60-17, 68-62, 70-26, 94-0); Hamza Akbar (Punjab) bt Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh) 4-3 (72-43, 47-63, 37-65, 103-9, 60-37, 18-54, 80-9).

Friday’s fixtures:

Pre quarter-finals: Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Amir Tariq (Punjab); Abu Saim (Punjab) v Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); Umair Alam (Sindh) v Babar Masih (Punjab); Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Abdul Sattar (Sindh) at 10am; Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab); Mohammad Javed (Punjab) v Shahid Aftab (Punjab); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Hamza Akbar ; Farhan Noor (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) at 2pm.