KARACHI: Three former national champions are among the 32 cueists who will fight for glory when the Jubilee Insurance inaugural National Master’s Snooker Championship begins at the Champion’s Snooker Academy, Lahore, on Saturday.

The three former national champions includes veteran Mohammad Yousuf, Naveen Perwani and Khurram Hussain Agha.

Players who have crossed 40 years of age are competing in the event that is a new addition in the Pakistan Billiards and Snoker Federation (PBSF) calendar.

According to format, after round robin league, top two players from the eight groups will cruise into the knockout last-16 round. Curtain falls on the event on Thursday.

Former Pakistan No 1 Imran Shehzad has been top seeded followed by Naveen Perwani.

Azher Khan, whose selection in Pakistan master’s team for the IBSF world snooker championship held at Doha in November out of a blue created quite a stir, is also competing in the event. He has never played a ranking event of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation before.

The matches will be played in four sessions at 10am, 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm.

Groups:

A: Imran Shahezd, Saqib Bashir, Amanullah, Khurram H. Agha.

B: Naveen Perwani, Rashid Mehmood, Akhtar Mohammad, Wahed Ahmed.

C: Shah Khan, Saeed Ahmed, Mohammad Shahid, Mohammad Yousuf.

D: Mehmood Khan, Amir Samdani, Saeed-ur-Rehman, Amir Sohail.

E: Chaudhry Shahzad Mehmood, Atif Mughal, Naseem Paracha, Zaheeruddin Babar.

F: Mirza Shahdab Baig, Syed Mujtahid Ali Shah, Saeed Baloch, Azher Khan.

G: Shahzad Butt, Arshad Ali Qureshi, Mukhtar Khan, Yousuf Khan.

H: Noman Awan, Mohammad Yousuf Jr, Mohammad Nadeem, Suneel Samuel Shahani.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2017