KARACHI: Former world champion Ahsan Ramzan will be seen in action in the NBP 47th National Snooker Championship, which begins here at the NBP Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Ahsan, who was crowned as the IBSF World Snooker champion last year, will be eyeing the national title, which he missed out on in its previous edition, going down to veteran Mohammad Sajjad.

The 38-year-old top seed Sajjad has won the national title four times — in 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2021. He is followed by Mohammad Bilal and Shahid Aftab who have won the title twice and once respectively.

Four provincial champions — Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Awaisullah (Punjab), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Adil A. Jabbar (Balochistan) — and Islamabad champion Abdul Javed are among 32 cueists who will vie for honours in the event.

The group matches will be played on best-of-seven frames and the top two players from each group will propel into the last-16 round. As many as 16 matches will be played on the opening day. The championship concludes on Jan 3.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022