KARACHI: Former Asian champion Hamza Akbar who has returned home from England after competing in the pro league for four years and incumbent world snooker champion Mohammad Asif will be focus of attention when the 45th National Snooker Championship cues off at the Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

The annual domestic snooker scene has returned to the metropolis after back-to-back juniors and masters competitions at Islamabad.

The country’s premier snooker championship was earlier scheduled to commence from Friday but was extended for two days.

Former national champion Hamza will make his appearance after 2015, the year when he was crowned Asian champion and earned entry for pro league for two year season which was extended for another two years on the basis of his performance. Hamza has entered the event as a qualifier from Punjab.

With rich experience under his belt, Asif has recaptured the world title late last year and this will be his first appearance after returning from Antalya.

Besides these two cueists, defending champion Mohammad Bilal, Asjad Iqbal, Naseem Akhtar and Mohammad Sajjad have the abilities to shine.

The 56 cueists have been equally drawn into eight groups and top two will cruise into the last-16 round on completion of league matches. The participants include top 12 ranking players who have earned direct qualification.

A sum of Rs100,000 is at offer for winner while Rs50,000 has been allocated for runner-up out of total prize money of Rs272,000.

Groups:

Pool ‘A’: Mohammad Asif (Punjab/NBP), Shaikh Mohammad Mudassir (Punjab/ State Bank), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ameer Hamza Khan (Islamabad), Jawed Ansari (Sindh), Saqib Majid (Balochistan), Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab).

Pool ‘B’: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab/State Bank), Saad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Munawar Khaliq (Islamabad), Rabish Pervez (Balochistan), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ahsan Javed (Punjab), Shariq Ali (Sindh).

Pool ‘C’: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab/NBP), Mohammad Umar Khan (Punjab), Shan Naimat (Islamabad), Sharjeel Mahmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ali Haider (Punjab/SBP), M. Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh), Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab).

Pool ‘D’: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab/NBP), Umer Farooq (Punjab), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan), Hamza Akbar (Punjab), Sattar Khan (Islamabad), Mesam Zaidi (Sindh), Mohammad Imran (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Pool ‘E’: Sohail Shahzad (Sindh), Haris Tahir (Punjab/NBP), Zubair Tahir (Punjab), Ali Hamza (Sindh), Saif Ali Khan (Balochistan), Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Shsan Ramzan (Punjab/SBP).

Pool ‘F’: Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Mohammad Saleem (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Ajmal (Punjab), Ali Raza (Sindh), Usman Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Obaid Khan (Balochistan).

Pool ‘G’: Babar Masih (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Ibrahim Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab/NBP), Ahmed Shah (Balochistan), Mohammad Ali (Sindh).

Pool ‘H’: Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab/NBP), Mubashir Raza (Punjab), Rana Irfan (Punjab), Agha Bilawal (Sindh), Aamir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdul Ghafoor (Balochistan), Mohammad Yaqoob (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Sunday’s fixtures:

At 10:00am: Mohammad Bilal vs Shariq Ali, Saad Khan vs M. Ahsan Javaid, Munawwar Khaliq vs Aakash Rafique, Mohammad Asif vs Mohammad Nazeer, Sheikh Mohammad Mudassir vs Saqib Bashir, Rambel Gul vs M. Jawed Ansari.

At 12:00pm: Mohammad Sajjad vs Mohammad Imran, Umer Farooq vs Meesam Zadi, Bahadur Khan vs A. Sattar, Asjad Iqbal vs Mohammad Asif Toba, Mohammad Umar Khan vs Mohammad Rizwan Hashmi, Shan Naimat vs Ali Haider.

At 2:00pm: Mohammad Ijaz vs Obaid Khan, Abdul Sattar vs Usman Ahmed, Mohammad Saleem vs Ali Raza, Sohail Shahzad vs Ahsan Ramzan, Haris Tahir vs Shahid Aftab, Zubair Tahir vs Saif Ali Khan.

At 4:00pm: Mohammad Naseem Akhtar vs Mohammad Yaqoob, Mubashir Raza vs Abdul Ghafoor, Rana Irfan vs Aamir Shahzad, Babar Masih vs Mohammad Ali, Zulfiqar A. Qadir vs Ahmed Shah, Khizar Aziz vs Mohammad Majid Ali.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020