May 04, 2007	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1428

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KARACHI, May 3: Reigning national champion Naveen Perwani retained his top slot while Saleh Mohammad staged a comeback among top 16 in the latest national rankings released by the PBSA after 11th Style Snooker Championship on Thursday.

Naveen, who was stunned by NWFP’s Rambel Gul 5-4 in the semi-final, has accumulated eight points which took his tally to 18 to stay Pakistan No 1.

He notched up an impressive 6-3 victory over Vishan Gir to capture his maiden national crown in March which credited him with 10 points.

Following on his heels is Abu Saim who has surged a step ahead from third slot with 15 points.

Veteran cueist Mohammad Yousuf who tasted 3-5 defeat to eventual Style Cup champion Saleh in the other semi-final has leaped seven places to occupy third position with 14 points. Though former No 1 Khurram Agha and Raees Khan have also 14 points apiece they are placed fourth and fifth.

Occupying the sixth slot is Saleh who by virtue of victory has secured 10 points. His previous ranking was 30th.

A veteran of eleven world championships, Saleh made a surprise return to the circuit following a long layoff after being pardoned by PBSA for violating code of conduct by skipping couple of tournaments last year. In addition, he crossed all barriers by representing Afghanistan at the Doha Asian Games.

Rambel, a former Style Cup winner and finalist of the 11th edition, has shown remarkable improvement when he jumped to seventh position from 23rd.

Imran Shehzad, runners up of 31st national’s is trailing at eighth, Atif Mughal ninth and Vishan Gir 10th positions.

Those who made their exit from top 16 are Imran Qamar, Shah Khan, Salman Shaikh and Irfan Rasheed Khan.

Following are the top 16 with points:

1. Naveen Perwani (18), 2. Abu Saim (15), 3. Mohammad Yousuf (14), 4. Khurram Agha (14), 5. Raees Khan (14), 6. Saleh Mohammad (13), 7. Rambel Gul (13), 8. Imran Shehzad (13), 9. Atif Mughal (13), 10. Vishan Gir (13), 11. M. Imtiaz Tipu (12), 12. Sohail Shehzad (12), 13. Mohammad Nazeer (12), 14. Mohammad Shahid (12), 15. Mohammad Riaz (11), 16. Shehram Changezi (10).