KARACHI, Jan 25 Defending champion Asjad Iqbal crossed the first hurdle when he sneaked into the pre quarter-finals of the third National Junior under-21 Snooker Championship at the Karachi Club on Monday.

Following a dismal start by going down to eventual group champion Mohammad Ishtiaq, Asjad notched up two back-to-back victories to finish second and survive a scare.

He completed the group engagements imposing a 3-0 victory over Farhan Hafeez the score being 52-32, 85-32, 74-24. The defending champion is now drawn to meet Sindh's Ahsan Raza in the pre quarter-finals on Tuesday at 1.00pm.

Last year's runners-up Hamza Akbar topped group 'C' to cruise into the last-16 stage as whipped Fahad Khan 58-17, 68-30, 52-34 to stay unbeaten in the group. He faces Mian Mohammad Shiraz in the pre quarters at 10.00am.

Results

Qamar Zaman Khan walkover Fawad Khan; Mohammad Rizwan Ali bt M. Haris Nadeem 3-0 (58-42, 60-18, 76-71); Mohammad Ahsan Javaid bt M. Nazir Arsalan 3-0 (75-26, 62-33, 77-20); Amir Sohail bt Abdul Rehman 3-0 (48-38, 53-20, 72-23); Kamran Ali bt Yasir Khan 3-1 (first frame awarded to Kamran, 36-82, 64-29, 71-25); Ahsan Raza bt Mian Mohammad Shiraz 3-1 (31-75, 58-54, 43-41, 88-21); Rizwan Hashmi bt Hafiz Mohammad Asim Habib 3-2 (57-16, 65-55, 17-58, 45-55, 60-42); Asad Kamani walkover Aun Shah; Mohammad Ishtiaq bt Rehman Joseph 3-0 (70-25, 69-10, 68-14); Mohammad Arif bt Abdul Waheed 3-1 (31-66, 46-12, 56-17, 66-55); Fayyaz Shafi bt Mohammad Amir 3-0 (57-6, 44-34, 69-31); Ayaz Khan bt Uzair Ali 3-0 (66-19, 74-10, 83-24); Asjad Iqbal bt Farhan Hafeez 3-0 (52-32, 85-32, 74-24); Hamid Younus bt Danial Adil 3-1 (98-8, 68-6, 37-48, 57-21); Yasir Rehman bt Taha Karim 3-1 (73-47, 53-15, 7-46, 62-14); Hamza Akbar bt Fahad Khan 3-0 (58-17, 68-30, 52-34).