KARACHI, Feb 13: Amit Perwani desperately needing a victory to qualify for the last 16, surprised seventh seed Imran Shehzad 4-3 in the 29th National Snooker Championship played on Friday at the Karachi Club.

Winning three of is four matches in Group B, Amit had to beat Imran, who and won all is four previous matches. Amit began his campaign in style pocketing the first two frames with effortless ease only to see Imran bounce back to level the scores 2-2.

Potting excellently Amit nosed ahead 3-2, but once again Imran playing fluent snooker was breathing down his back 3-3. The final frame began in pindrop silence and after a slow start Amit broke away once again, picking up the final frame and the match 4-3.

Although beaten, Imran finished on top in the Group. Both cueists had four points apiece, but Imran's frame advantage was plus 11 to Amit's plus eight.

Overjoyed with his performance, Amit was on hand to see his cousin third seed Naveen Perwani book his berth in the last 16, accounting for NWFP's Rambel Gul 4-1, helped on with splendid breaks of 48, 48 and 98, after Rambel won the opening frame, chalking up two breaks of 39 and 34.

Naveen's companion most probably will be Mohammad Akhlas who has to play his last match against Zia Amir on Saturday. If Akhlas should perish in his last match by a big margin, Rambel may squeeze his way into the No.2 spot.

Top seed Khurram Agha moved comfortably ahead beating Punjab's Imran Mughal 4-1, However both qualified from Group A.

Saleh Mohammad kept his slate clean, brushing aside Shah Khan 4-0, helped on with a quick break of 88. Finishing one and two, both cueists moved ahead from Group B.

Joining them from Group D were the defending champion Mohammad Yousuf and Abu Saim, although Yousuf made short work of Saim 4-2. Farhan Mirza also made his way through to the qualifying round beating Mohammad Nazir 4-1. Nazir had to be satisfied with his second place in Group E.

Saqib Butt scheduled to play Mudassar in his last qualifying round is most likely to qualify, with Atiq Latif Bux topping Group F. Vishan Gir having some anxious moments, finally came out a 4-1 winner against Shakeel Bhatti, after the eighth seed blazed his way through the opening frame with a break of 77.

Realising he had to beat Shakeel who had lost all his previous four qualifying matches, Vishan got down to brass tacks, winning the next four frames to top Group H. He was joined by Shakir Rafiq, although he was beaten by Shehram Changezi 4-3.

Twenty-year-old Shehram, the finds of the tournament, qualifying from the Punjab Cup finished with the same three points as Shakir, but missed the boat by just two frames. He did have a marvellous chance to reach the last 16, winning the first three frames against Shakir but the youngster grabbed the next three frames to win.

Results: Mohammad Yousuf bt Abu Saim 4-2: 19/60, 74/31, 58/71, 66/31, 57/35. (Saim was awarded the opening frame as Yousuf arrived at the playing venue for his match.)