Naseem misses century break as top eight players make winning starts.

Byline: Anwar Zuberi

KARACHI -- Former junior world champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar closely missed a century break as top eight seeds including defending champion Mohammad Bilal made fruitful starts on the opening day of Jubilee Insurance 45th National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

Naseem, who is also eighth seed and by virtue of that direct qualifier, hammered an efficient break of 97 in the opening frame as he was home straight 116-5, 83-6, 86-1, 65-42 against Mohammad Yaqoob of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Top seed and two-time world champion Mohammad Asif conceded two frames before winning over Mohammad Nazeer in six frames 38-77, 58-25, 47-65, 83-5, 70-0, 65-1. Second seed Bilal was extended to limits before getting the better of Shariq Ali in the first session 74-53, 18-61, 19-64, 86-27, 8-98, 82-27, 69-27.

Third seed Asjad Iqbal and fourth seed and former national champion Mohammad Sajjad won their opening days matches in contrasting styles. While Asjad rallied to overcome former national champion Mohammad Asif Toba 4-3 (50-74, 16-51, 28-51, 74-94, 60-8, 83-44, 58-44) the latter outplayed Mohammad Imran straight ( 64-53, 89-42, 65-36, 54-52).

Results:

Mohammad Bilal (Punjab/SBP) bt Shariq Ali (Sindh) 4-3 (74-53, 18-61, 19-64, 86-27, 8-98, 82-27, 69-27); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) bt Saad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-1 (64-14, 77-5, 103-19, 7-53, 88-11); Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad) 4-0 (walk over); Mohammad Asif (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab) 4-2 (38-77, 58-25, 47-65, 83-5, 70-0, 65-1); Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab/SBP) bt Saqib Bashir (Balochistan) 4-2 (53-17, 70-2), 9-80, 48-45, 37-59, 90-0); Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt M. Jawed Ansari (Sindh) 4-3 (48-60, 46-74, 64-33, 62-29, 60-53, 15-66, 74-1); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 4-0 (64-53, 89-42, 65-36, 54-52); Umer Farooq (Punjab) bt S. Meesam Zaidi (Sindh) 4-0 (70-17, 62-8, 63-54, 60-14); Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) bt A. Sattar Khan (Islamabad) 4-3 (65-95, 73-46, 61-29, 15-54, 63-50, 19-65, 72-21); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab/NBP) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-3 (50-74, 16-51, 28-51, 74-94, 60-8, 83-44, 58-44)...