KARACHI, May 29 Three players among the top eight on Friday failed to advance into the knockout stage of NBP Ranking Snooker championship, performing below par in the league contest which concluded at the Karachi Club.

Those who could not go beyond the league include sixth seed Imran Shehzad (Punjab), seventh seed Rambel Gul (NWFP) and eighth seed Sultan Mohammad (Sindh). They all settled for third slot in their respective groups.

Former world and Asian champion Mohammad Yousuf, who made his comeback to the circuit with a stunning 4-3 victory over last year's national champion Mohammad Sajjad, also failed to progress to last 16.

He had finished third in a similar tournament held in June last year. However, in the preceding 33rd Nationals, he made it to the pre-quarters where he lost to Shehram Changezi.

Those who have stepped in the next round at the expense of above players include 28th seed Mohammad Naeem (group F), 18th seed Jawed Ansari (group G) and 17th seed Naveen Perwani (group H).

Mohammad Asif Toba, the 29th seed, topped group E to enter next stage at the expense of 12th seed Agha Bilawal.

Meanwhile, other seeded cueists propelled into the next round which begins on Saturday.

Vishan Gir, losing finalists of the 32nd national championship held two years back gave an awesome performance when he bulldozed reigning national champion Mohammad Asif 4-2 the score being 65-33, 21-73, 24-38, 81-8, 103-13, 100-29. The triumph enabled him to top group A ahead of Asif.

The best of nine frames pre quarter-finals will be played in two sessions on Saturday. The first session starts at 10.00am.

Results

Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-1 (48-69, 63-43, 69-24, 87-27, 63-6); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 4-3 (56-54, 11-61, 30-78, 50-60, 68-15, 67-57, 65-33); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Inamur Rehman (NWFP) 4-3 (48-33, 63-7, 35-45, 14-52, 67-60, 32-67, 58-44); Rambel Gul (NWFP) walkover Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab); Sharjeel Mahmood (NWFP) bt Qasim Kamani (Sindh) 4-0 (66-28, 67-53, 98-42, 82-51); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) 4-2 (46-37, 8-61, 58-29, 39-62, 52-32, 75-32); Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (65-33, 21-73, 24-38, 81-8, 103-13, 100-29); Raees Khan (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (63-22, 14-60, 82-0, 69-41, 65-61); Naveen Perwani (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-2 (74-33, 78-24, 90-1, 30-66, 44-55, 78-37); Mohammad Naeem (Punjab) bt Qadeer Butt (Punjab) 4-3 (40-31, 51-15, 22-78, 48-58, 55-62, 65-8, 59-17); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (NWFP) 4-1 (75-44, 65-70, 63-13, 59-32, 48-35); Jawed Ansari (Sindh) bt Shahdab Baig (Sindh) 4-1 (62-38, 39-79, 64-29, 92-35, 58-36); Kamran Razzak (Sindh) bt Naeem Jaffar (Balochistan) 4-1 (42-54, 49-36, 69-38, 46-36, 73-14); Saqib Butt (Punjab) bt Bahadur Baloch (Balochistan) 4-2 (67-40, 77-9, 57-13, 4-67, 6-58, 80-6); Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) bt Kamran Shah (Balochistan) 4-1 (61-15, 100-12, 67-37, 25-68, 74-11); Umair Alam (Sindh) bt Hamza Akbar (Punjab) 4-0 (69-9, 62-38, 54-50, 51-39).

Saturday's fixtures

Pre quarter-finals Raees Khan v Qasim Kamani, Mohammad Asif v Mohammad Nazeer, Mohammad Asif Toba v Mohammad Naeem, Mohammad Jawed v Naveen Perwani at 10.00am; Vishan Gir v Inamur Rehman, Khurram Agha v Mohammad Afzal, Mohammad Sajjad v Sohail Shehzad, Jawed Ansari v Sharjeel Mehmood at 2.00pm.