KARACHI, Feb 25 Country's top cueist Mohammad Sajjad, who surrendered national crown to challenger Mohammad Asif last year, gets a chance to erase the loss when the 35th NJI National Snooker Championship begins at Karachi Gymkhana from Tuesday.

Thirty-four players from four provinces are in the run for the honours including veteran world champion Mohammad Yousuf and Islamabad-based Shahram Changezi. The former has got a wildcard from Sindh whereas the latter has qualified from Punjab capturing the provincial cup.

Sajjad, who lost his national ranking to Asif following a 2-6 defeat in the final of last nationals, surged to the top and maintained the slot by landing the two other domestic titles.

The 26-year-old top seed Sajjad is drawn in group 'A' together with Imran Shehzad, Umair Alam and Imran Qamar.

Second seed Asif is placed in group 'B' alongside Inam-ur-Rehman, Abdul Qadeer Butt and Mohammad Yousuf.

The country's premier snooker championship carries a total prize money of Rs125,000. The winner earns Rs50,000 while Rs30,000 goes to the runner-up.

According to the format, top two players from each group will qualify for the knockout pre-quarterfinals. The qualifying rounds will be of the best of seven, pre-quarterfinals, quarter-finals and semi-finals best of nine and the final best of fifteen frames.

Top two players will be eligible to represent the country in the 26th Asian championship being held at Chanthaburi, Thailand, from May 8 to 15.

Groups

A Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Umair Alam (Sindh), Imran Qamar (Punjab).

B Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Inam-ur-Rehman (NWFP), Abdul Qadeer Butt (Punjab), Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh).

C Raees Khan (Punjab), Qasim Kamani (Sindh), Kamran Shah (Balochistan), Farhan Khan (NWFP).

D Khurram H. Agha (Sindh), Rambel Gul (NWFP), Shah Khan (NWFP), Abdul Rauf Kurd (Balochistan).

E Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Mohammad Jawed (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab).

F Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Naveen Perwani (Sindh), Shahram Changezi (Punjab), Farrukh Usman (Sindh).

G Sharjeel Mehmood (NWFP), Vishan Gir (Sindh), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Zahoor Ahmed (Balochistan), Yasir Shahzad (NWFP).

H Saqib Butt (Punjab), Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Nauman Awan (NWFP), Bahadur Khan (Balochistan).