29 January 2005	Saturday	18 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Jan 28: Pakistan's most celebrated cueist Mohammad Yousuf will be going all out to clinch his 14th National crown, when the 30th National snooker championship gets under way at the Karachi Club's snooker hall on Saturday.

The winner of the world amateur snooker championship held in Johannesburg (South Africa) way back in 1994 then adding the Asian crown to his tally which was held in Karachi a few years later, Yousuf ruled the roost for several years on the Pakistan scene, but now with age creeping up on the old lion he has been beaten several times but budding youngsters all vying for his crown, in other ranking tournaments.

But somehow Yousuf seems to bring out his best in the Nationals, putting several talented pretenders to the sword. During his long and successful reign, only two cueists have won the Nationals. Farhan Mirza won the title being crowned both the National and Junior champion in the same year.

The other cueist who wrested the crown out of Yousuf's grasp was Saleh Mohammad, who apart from being crowned the National champion was ranked as No.3 and then No.2 in the world ranking.

Talking to Dawn on Friday Yousuf said that the other 47 players in the tournament pose danger to his title but added that the main threat should come from his main rival Saleh Mohammad, Pakistan No.1 Khurram Hussain Agha, fourth seed Naveen Perwani, fast upcoming youngster Atiq Latif Bakhsh, Imran Shahzad, beaten by Yousuf last year in the final and of course the scourge of many cueists Rambel Gul, who has risen up the ranks by leaps and bounds in the last two years.

Still an extremely hard nut to crack at the age of 54, Yousuf said that he will go on playing snooker as long as his body and eye sight enables him to do so.

In the meantime, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) have made alterations in selection of the team for the Asian championship. Previously the winner and runner-up of the nationals automatically secured the rights to play in the Asians. But from 2005, the top eight cueists in the country will play each other in a round robin clash and the two emerging on top will represent Pakistan in the Asian Snooker Championship to be held at Mumbai in May this year.

Added to the top 24 players on the circuit, another 24 players representing the four provinces will make up the 48 players vying for the spoils which will conclude on Monday February 7, when the 10-day competition folds up after the best of 11-frame final.

From the Sindh Cup eight new players have joined the circuit, from the Punjab Cup another eight, NWFP has six and Balochistan has only two players in the tournament. The two top players from each of the eight groups will qualify for the last 16 after the qualifying rounds.

While several new faces will be making their debut, two former leading players Arifullah of NWFP, who represented Pakistan in the Asian championship, reaching the last 16 four years ago and Faiq Malik of Punjab have quit the circuit due to personal reasons.

On the other hand two NWFP cueists Muhammad Shafiq, a former Pakistan No.4 and Inamur Rehman along with Punjab's Arshad Siddiq, will be returning to the national snooker circuit after nearly two years in the wilderness.

Mohammad Shafiq, a steady but extremely dangerous customer, won a six-nation contest in Bangladesh, beating the best of six other nations, while picking up the President's Cup in Dhaka some years ago. He quit the snooker scene due to unforseen circumstances.

Although ranked in this tournament amongst the also rans, Shafiq will indeed be a constant thorn in the sides of other players in his group. Although Yousuf is the defending champion, Khurram Hussain Agha gets top billing and is followed by Saleh Mohammad at No.2, Mohammad Yousuf at No.3, Naveen Perwani at No.4, Atiq Latif Bakhsh at No.5, Imran Shehzad at No.6, Vishan Gir at No.7 and Abu Saim at No.8.

The prize money in this championship is Rs. 204,000, with the winner taking home Rs. 70,000. the runner-up will receive Rs. 40,000 and the two losing semi-finalists will pocket Rs. 15,000 each.

The cueist registering the highest break in the tournament will receive Rs.8000. As per the draws released by PBSA, the four top ranked players in the tournament will be seen in action on day two of championship on Sunday.

FOLLOWING ARE THE EIGHT GROUPS:

GROUP A: Khurram Hussain Agha (KPT), Muhammad Asif (Punjab), Shakir Rafiq, (Sindh), Shadab Baig (Sindh), Nadeem Rasheed (Punjab) and Nauman Awan (NWFP).

GROUP B: Saleh Muhammad (NWFP), Muhammad Akhlas (Sindh), Imtiaz Tipu (Punjab), Kashif Khan (Sindh), Raza Ali (Punjab) and Arshad Siddiq (Punjab).

GROUP C: Muhammad Yousuf (KPT), Minhas Malik (Sindh), Raees Khan (Punjab), Naseem Paracha (Sindh), Tahir Hussain (Punjab) and Qamar Khan (NWFP).

GROUP D: Naveen Perwani (Sindh), Shah Khan (NWFP), Kamran Shah (Balochistan), Waqas Malik (Sindh), M. Shahzad (Punjab) and Nadir Khan (NWFP).

GROUP E: Atiq Latif Bakhsh (KPT), Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh), Farrukh Usman (Sindh), Janan Khan (Sindh), Salman Shaikh (Sindh) and Shahid Shafiq (Punjab).

GROUP F: Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Amit Parwani (Sindh), Saqib Butt (Punjab), Muhammad Shafiq (NWFP), Atif Ali Mughal (Punjab) and Muhammad Baqar (Sindh).

GROUP G: Vishan Gir (Sindh), Muhammad Nazir (Pjb), Masood Ahmed (Sindh), Farhan Noor (Punjab), Inamur Rehman (NWFP) and Kamran Razzak (Sindh). Abu Saim (Punjab), Rambel Gul (NWFP), Shehram Changezi (Punjab), Sohail Shahzad (Sindh), Ayub Khan Sindh) and Abid Saleem (Punjab).