KARACHI: The sixth National Junior Under-21 Snooker Championship springs into action at Movenpick hotel arcade on Saturday with 30 cueists instead of originally announced 34 vying for the honours.

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) were compelled to revise the draws on Friday after two players Mohammad Amir (Balochistan) and Tayyab Anwar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) didn’t turn up for the event. Besides, the organisers excluded the name of Mohammad Hasan (Punjab) for being overage while Islamabad has not send any entry of a second player.

Fourteen matches were on card for the opening day and will be played in four sessions.

Last year’s champion Mohsin Amin of Punjab who tops group F faces Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Ashar Arshad in the opening sessions at 10.00am.

National champion Hamza Akbar who recently captured the Punjab junior cup has been drawn in group A and is slated to meet M. Tasawar-ul-Haq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwain the second session at 11.30am.

Top two players from eight groups will cruise into knockout pre quarter-finals after completion of league matches on Monday. The pre quarters will be played on Tuesday followed by quarters and semis the next day. The event concludes on Feb 20.

Saturday’s fixtures:

At 10.00am: Noman Iqbal (Islamabad) v Mohammad Zubair (Sindh), Mohsin Amin (Punjab) v Ashar Arshad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Fahad Khan (Sindh) v Hunain Amir (Punjab).

At 11.30am: Hamza Akber (Punjab) v M. Tasawar-ul-Haq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), M. Haris Nadeem (Sindh) v Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Jehan Zaib (Balochistan) v Mohammad Raheem (Punjab).

At 1.00pm: Saifullah (Punjab) v Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Usman Khan (Sindh) v Mohammad Ibrahim (Balochistan), Mohammad Sajawal (Punjab) v Mohammad Azam Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Shariq Ali (Sindh) v Amir Tariq (Punjab).

At 2.30pm: Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan) v Mohammad Adil (Sindh), Mohammad Kashif (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Rabi-ul-Hasan (Balochistan), Mohammad Faheem (Punjab) v Mohammad Bilal Farooq (Sindh), Mohammad Junaid Babar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohammad Sumair (Sindh).