KARACHI, Jan 15: Three former national champions - Mohammad Yousuf, Khurram Agha and Naveen Perwani - who are going through the agony of qualifying round, opened their campaign on winning note when the 19th Sindh snooker cup league commenced at Snooker Zone on Saturday following two days' rest.

The three together with Vishan Gir, a former runner-up of national's, have failed to earn automatic qualification for this year's country's premier championship of the game after their national ranking slipped below top 16.

Forty cueists who are vying for four slots have been equally drawn in eight groups. On completion of group matches, top two from each will qualify for the knockout pre quarter-finals. The event concludes on Jan 23.

Mohammad Akmal, last year's semi-finalist of Sindh Cup, has been top seeded in the draw. He is followed by Khurram Agha, Mohammad Yousuf, Farrukh Usman, Najam-ur-Rehman, Naveen Perwani, Vishan Gir and Mohammad Ishtiaq.

Veteran Yousuf, a former world amateur champion, thrashed M. Kashan 4-0. Khurram conceded a frame while routing Asif Moti 4-1. Naveen disposed of Azeem Yousuf 4-1 while Vishan blanked Shahzad Naseem 4-0.

Results: Naveen Perwani bt Azeem Yousuf 4-1 (81-23, 64-46, 74-15, 38-69, 60-46); Vishan Gir bt Shahzad Naseem 4-0 (74-35, 61-52, 67-35, 65-8); Khurram Agha bt Asif Moti 4-1 (67-32, 81-33, 20-67, 109-9, 64-47); Najum-ur-Rehman bt M. Akhlas 4-1 (52-35, 42-75, 83-3, 73-18, 69-16); Mohammad Yousuf bt M. Kashan 4-0 (73-15, 69-23, 83-25, 82-10); M. Ishtiaq bt M. Uzair 4-0 (72-19, 118-9, 69-35, 75-2); Shadab Baig bt Waqas Malik 4-0 (57-49, 52-37, 58-39, 80-41); Aneel John bt Danish Baig 4-2 (67-18, 46-9, 76-72, 41-71, 57-78, 88-16); Saeed Khan bt Kashif Khan 4-2 (57-42, 46-58, 76-50, 2-79, 56-10, 71-24); S. M. Ali Zaidi bt M. Afsar 4-2 (64-31, 18-59, 52-76, 53-41, 52-48, 50-41); Javed Ansari bt A. Basit Siwani 4-0 (80-18, 53-14, 67-20, 51-45).