UAE players suffer shock losses in Karachi

More upsets hit the seven-nation International Snooker Championship in Karachi as UAE stars Mohammad Shehab and Mohammad Al Joker were among those to suffer shock defeats. The man doing the biggest damage was unseeded local player Abdul Sattar, who continued his success act on the second day of the tournament at the Hotel Pearl Continental. Sattar stunned the fourth-seeded Shehab 4-3 after having undone eighth seed Yasser Ahmad Al Sherbini of Egypt on the first day. With wins in his first games he has put himself in a comfortable position to qualify for the quarter-finals. However, Shehab salvaged his pride and revived his chances with a 4-3 victory over talented Saeed Abu Yesani of Iran in his second match of the day. Pakistan No 2 Sultan Mohammad upset seventh seeded Al Joker 4-1. The UAE player found himself trailing 3-0 in the encounter and just when he had embarked on a recovery by taking the fourth frame, he saw his opponent steal the fifth on the black and wrap up the match. Al Joker also lost his second match of the day 4-1 to Mohammad Ebrahim Mohammad of Egypt 4-1, curtailing his chances of making it into the quarter-finals of the event. The match between Shehab and Abdul Sattar was the most entertaining of the day. After conceding the close first frame Shehab came back with a run of 50 points to grab the second. However, the top-ranked player in the UAE went without a point in the next as his rival rolled in a break of 100 to go one-up again. Shehab hit back by taking the fourth and a break of 83 points in the fifth that put him ahead of Abdul Sattar. Abdul Sattar produced a vital break of 69 in the sixth frame to earn a 3-3 and then took the deciding seventh on the black for a 4-3 victory. Unruffled, Shehab went on to win his next match against Abu Yesani.