Muhammad Shahid becomes Pakistan’s No. 1 in National Snooker Rankings
It was a dream came true for Faisalabad-based cueist Muhammad Shahid when he grabbed the top spot in the national snooker rankings of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) on Tuesday, 8th March.
The rankings were revised after the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship 2011 which Shahid won. The 28-year-old Shahid crashed national number 1 Imran Shahzad 8-2 in the final of the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship 2011 to win the national title.
Imran Shahzad has now been pushed to number two in the national rankings.
The Faisalabad resident entered the event as a qualifier, but scrambled beautifully during the national event and stunned Imran Shahzad in the final.
Asia’s number 2 Muhammad Sajjad, who finished as a semi-finalist in the national event, upgraded his ranking from fourth to third. He was beaten by the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship semi-finalist, upgraded his ranking from fourth spot to third.
He was beaten by Imran Shahzad 6-2 in the semi-final.
The other semi-finalist from Sindh, Sultan Muhammad, topped up to fourth rank from 14th, leaping 10 spots due to his excellent performance in the country’s biggest snooker event. Shahid outplayed him 6-3 easily in the semi-final.
Another national cueist from Sindh, Sohail Shahzad, slid down to fifth spot from second. He was beaten by the current national champion, Shahid 3-5 in the quarterfinal. Naveen Perwani of Sindh, former national champion and 2006 IBSF World Snooker Championship
quarter-finalist, entered the 36th NJI National Snooker Championship 2011 as a qualifier. He reached the quarter-final stages of the tournament where he lost to Sultan Muhammad 4-5. He has secured the sixth spot in the national rankings.
Another former national champion, Punjab’s Muhammad Asif, occupied eighth place while Muhammad Asif Toba, his province-mate, grabbed the seventh position. Both cueists faced defeats in the quarter-final stages of the national championship. Asif was thrashed
by Pakistan number 3 and former national champion, Muhammad Sajjad 2-5 whereas Toba got dumped by number 2 Imran Shahzad.
The experienced Muhammad Yousuf, former world snooker champion, entered the competition as a qualifier, but could not make it to the final stages. He has been placed at the 10th place in the national rankings. This enables him to participate in the next
ranking national event.
The top eight ranks are:
1. Muhammad Shahid
2. Imran Shahzad
3. Muhammad Sajjad
4. Sultan Muhammad
5. Sohail Shahzad
6. Naveen Perwani
7. Muhammad Asif Toba
8. Muhammad Asif
Muhammad Shahid was awarded a trophy and cash prize of Rs 60,000 after winning the National Championship final. He was also awarded a place in the three-member team that will represent Pakistan in the Test series being played against Iran. He will also participate
in the Asian Snooker Championship to be held in Indore, India in April this year.
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