KARACHI: Highly talented cueist Hamza Akbar, who performed remarkably well to win his second national crown this month, has regained top ranking after a year’s lay-off according to the latest rankings released by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF).

Playing his third straight final, Punjab’s Hamza conjured up magnificent 8-4 frames victory over Islamabad-based Shahram Changezi who caught the eye by making maiden final of the country’s premier snooker championship on Feb 9. By virtue of finishing runner-up, the latter has attained second place in the ranking chart.

Besides Hamza, the top ten include four former national champions including Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Khurram Agha and Mohammad Asif Toba.

Punjab continue to dominate the top 10 rankings by securing six slots followed by Sindh two, Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa one apiece.

The top 32 cueists were eligible to compete in the second ranking tournament whenever it takes place. The list also includes three juniors — Amir Tariq (16th), Abdul Raheem (22nd) and Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (24) — while the fourth Mohammad Faheem, who is incidentally the national junior champion and could not make the mark, will be added to the list of 32 in the second event.

Rankings:

1-Hamza Akbar (Punjab), 2-Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), 3-Mohammad Asif (Punjab), 4-Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), 5-Babar Masih (Punjab), 6-Mohammad Imran (Punjab), 7-Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 8-Khurram Agha (Sindh), 9-Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), 10-Zulfiqar A Qadir (Sindh), 11-Hunain Amir (Punjab), 12-Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), 13-Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 14-Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), 15-Abdul Sattar (Sindh), 16-Amir Tariq (Punjab), 17-Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), 18-Imran Shehzad (Punjab), 19-Shahid Aftab (Punjab), 20-Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), 21-Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 22-Abdul Raheem (Punjab), 23-Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), 24-Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (Islamabad), 25-Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), 26-M. Faizan (Sindh), 27-Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), 28-Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh), 29-Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), 30-Mohammad Toufiq Jhori (Sindh), 31-Ian Mark John (Sindh), 32-Abu Saim (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play