KARACHI, March 5 Two more seeded players fell prey to their opponents as the 35th National Snooker Championship entered the quarter-final stage at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

Islamabad-based Shahram Changezi who has entered the event after a layoff as a qualifier by capturing the Punjab Cup, sprang the biggest surprise when he whipped defending champion and the second seed Mohammad Asif 5-1 in the pre quarter-final.

Shahram, winner of the 12th Style Cup two years back, was convincing in registering 69-57, 21-57, 80-45, 65-35, 78-33, 71-25 win over Asif who represented the country in the Asian and World championships last year.

Another player who met his fate was third seed Raees Khan who also went down by the identical 1-5 margin without giving any opposition to top seed and former national champion Mohammad Sajjad.

Sajjad won the battle 87-23, 51-68, 84-2, 82-22, 58-35, 91-17 to join Shahram into last eight.

The match was a repeat of NBP ranking tournament final where Sajjad had overcame Raees 8-3 to land the title last year.

Ninth seed Mohammad Asif Toba and 16th seed Imran Shehzad, both from Punjab, were also knocked out in the pre quarters.

Qualifier Imran Qamar stunned the former 5-2 while former national junior champion Asjad Iqbal blanked the latter 5-0.

Khurram Agha, a former Pakistan No 1 and fourth seed along with sixth seed Sohail Shehzad progressed to the next round.

Khurram gave a 5-1 drubbing to Sharjel Mehmood while Sohail thrashed Umair Alam 5-0.

Results

Pre quarter-finals Khurram H. Agha (Sindh) bt Sharjeel Mehmood (NWFP) 5-1 (79-15, 71-4, 20-72, 62-51, 70-28, 71-9); Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) bt Nauman Awan (NWFP) 5-3 (51-41, 32-70, 59-35, 89-24, 8-76, 32-99, 59-27, 71-23); Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Imran Shehzad (Punjab) 5-0 (59-11, 81-5, 81-10, 61-58, 87-28); Shahram Changezi (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 5-1 (69-57, 21-57, 80-45, 65-35, 78-33, 71-25); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Raees Khan (Punjab) 5-1 (87-23, 51-68, 84-2, 82-22, 58-35, 91-17); Imran Qamar (Punjab) bt Mohamamd Asif Toba (Punjab) 5-2 (43-34, 48-56, 23-70, 75-72, 61-17, 63-37, 65-23); Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) bt Umair Alam (Sindh) 5-0 (60-6, 63-14, 79-47, 65-37, 67-0).