KARACHI: The baize game takes a centre stage after a layoff when the 42nd National Snooker Championship cues off at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday at 10am.

With the late addition of wildcard Abdul Raheem, 57 cueists belonging to the four provinces and Islamabad will make their presence felt in the premier event of the game which concludes on March 21.

According to the break-up, besides the top 12 who have earned direct entry Punjab has fielded 10 players followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa eight apiece, Balochistan seven, Islamabad three, four wildcards and five juniors.

The provincial and Islamabad cueists have come through the qualifying phase.

The top 12 who have been retained by the game’s controlling body are 1-Mohammad Bilal, 2-Babar Masih, 3-Mohammad Asif, 4-Mohammad Sajjad, 5-Sohail Shehzad, 6-Zulfiqar A. Qadir, 7-Shahram Changezi, 8-Asjad Iqbal, 9-Sharjeel Mehmood, 10-Shahid Aftab, 11-Mohammad Ijaz, 12- Abu Saim.

Punjab’s Mohammad Bilal, who is defending champion and top seed, will come across a galaxy of players who are eager to demonstrate their acumen in the competition.

Besides Bilal, half-a-dozen former national champions including two ex-world champions and a world championship runner-up are in the fray. They include Khurram Agha, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Asif Toba and Shahid Aftab.

At 65, veteran Yousuf is the oldest player who is still making the cut in the qualifiers. He has returned to his home city in the recent past from the upcountry where he had earlier moved to make ends meet.

The eleventh hour induction of Raheem had compelled the organisers to revise the schedule. Now 35 matches will be played in five sessions on the opening day.

Groups:

A: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Umer Farooq (Punjab), Aakash Rafiqu (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mussadiq Mehmood (Islamabad), Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab).

B: Babar Masih (Punjab), Mohammad Rafiq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Khurram Agha (Sindh), Fawad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohamm ad Aasif Toba (Punjab), Saeed Ahmed (Balochistan), Mohammad Saqib (Punjab).

C: Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Haris (Punjab), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh), Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh).

D: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab), Munawwar Khaliq (Islamabad), Mohammad Naeem Jaffar (Balochistan), Farhan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Zeeshan Raza (Punjab).

E: Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab), Mohammad Faizan (Sindh), Nadir Imran (Punjab), Abdul Raziq (Balochistan), Fazal Umar Butt (Sindh).

F: Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Shah Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Hunain Amir (Punjab), Ahmed Shah (Balochistan), Sattar (Sindh), Surbuland Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

G: Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Agha Bilawal (Sindh), Umair Zulfiqar (Islamabad), Aamir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Afzaal (Punjab), Shahid Shafiq (Punjab).

H: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Farhan Noor (Punjab), Allah Noor (Balochistan), Mohammad Uzair Aziz (Sindh), Amir Sohail (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Abdul Raheem (Punjab).

Sunday’s fixtures:

At 10am: Mohammad Bilal v Mohammad Ahsan Javaid, Umer Farooq v Mohammad Majid Ali, Aakash Rafique v Zahoor Ahmed, Babar Masih v Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Rafiq v Saeed Ahmed, Khurram Agha v Mohammad Asif Toba, Agha Bilawal v Mohammad Aamir Shehzad.

At 12noon: Mohammad Asif v Sultan Mohammad, Haris v Mohammad Imran, Bahadur Khan v Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Sajjad v Zeeshan Raza, Mohammad Naseem Akhtar v Mohammad Ishtiaq, Munawar Khaliq v Farhan Khan, Farhan Noor v Mohammad Uzair Aziz.

At 2pm: Sohail Shehzad v Fazal Umar Butt, Abu Saim v Abdul Raziq, Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir v Nadir Miran, Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Sarbuland Khan, Mohammad Ijaz v Sattar, Shah Khan v Ahmed Shah, Sharjeel Mehmood v Aamir Sohail.

At 4pm: Shahram Changezi v Shahid Shafiq, Shahid Aftab v Mohammad Afzaal, Asjad Iqbal v Mubashir Raza, Mohammad Bilal v Mohammad Majid Ali, Babar Masih v Saeed Ahmed, Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Ishrtiaq.

At 6pm: Zulfiqar A. Qadir v Sattar, Farhan Noor v Mohammad Uzair Aziz, Sharjeel Mehmood v Abdul Rahim, Zahoor Ahmed v Mohammad Ahsan Javaid, Mohammad Rafiq v Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Faizan v Fazal Umar Butt, Munawwar Khaliq v Zeeshan Raza.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2017