KARACHI: Pakistan No 1 Mohammad Sajjad, who reached pinnacle of his career by finishing runner-up in the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world snooker championship at Bangalore on Nov 29 last year, will be favourite for the title when the Jubilee Insurance 40th National Snooker Championship cues off at Movenpick hotel on Saturday.

A native of Sargodha, the 29-year-old Sajjad, was the pick of last year as he won two of the three ranking tournaments. If one goes by his recent performance, he looks competent enough to recapture the national title after a lay-off. However, in the quest, he will be up against four cueists who have won national title including the incumbent besides others.

The quartet, who have captured the national title include reigning champion Mohammad Asif Toba and former champions Khurram Agha, Hamza Akbar and Mohammad Asif.

Bearded Toba sent holder Hamza Akbar packing 8-5 in the last year’s final to annex his maiden national crown as well as No 1 ranking.

Forty-five players, who will compete for honours, have been drawn into eight groups and top two will advance into the knockout pre quarter-finals. The final is slated for Feb 9.

The event carries total prize money of Rs2,52,000 with winner getting Rs80,000 and runner-up taking home Rs50,000. The losing semi-finalists and quarter-finalists receives Rs40,000 apiece. An amount of Rs10,000 has been set aside for highest break.

Twenty matches are on card in four session on Saturday.

Groups:

A: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) , Khurram H. Agha (Sindh), Mehmood Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Toufiq Jhori (Sindh), Mohammad Nouman Iqbal (junior/Islamabad).

B: Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Abu Saim (Punjab), Aamir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Hunain Amir (Punjab), Amir Tariq (junior/Punjab).

C: Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Yasir Nadeem (Islamabad), Jan Mark John (Sindh), Abdul Raheem (junior/Punjab).

D: Hamza Akbar (Punjab), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Mohammad Faheem (junior/Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab).

E: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Shehram Changezi (Islamabad), Gul Afzal (Islamabad), Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh).

F: Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Jehangir Bungulzai (Balochistan), Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh), Saqib Butt (Punjab).

G: Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Mohammad Faizan (Sindh), Mohammad Imran (Punjab), Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan), Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

H: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Sarbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Saturday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Saqib Butt (Punjab), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Nauman Awan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan) v Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab).

At 12noon: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohammad Nauman Iqbal (Islamabad), Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v Amir Tariq (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Abdul Raheem (Punjab), Hamza Akbar (Punjab) v Babar Masih (Punjab), Gul Afzal (Islamabad) v Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

At 2pm: Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) v Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Jehangir Bungulzai (Balochistan), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Mohammad Imran (Punjab), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Zulfiqar A Qadir (Sindh), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Jehangir Bungulzai (Balochistan).

At 4pm: Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Mehmood Khan (Balochistan), Abu Saim (Punjab) v Aamir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Yasir Nadeem (Islamabad), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) v Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Faizan (Sindh) v Mohammad Imran (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2015

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