KARACHI, Jan 30: Defending champion Mohammad Sajjad, who is also the Asian No 2, comes under severe pressure from veterans and contemporaries to retain the crown when the 36th National Snooker Championship gets into action at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

The event, which carries total prize money of Rs150,000, has been brought forward at the expense of the National Junior Under-21 event due to pressing international commitments.

Laying fourth in the national ranking, the Asian sensation whipped his pupil Asjad Iqbal 8-2 in last year’s final to win the national crown for the second time in three years.

The win brought good fortunes making him eligible for the 26th Asian spectacle where he reached the final eventually losing 3-7 to Thailand’s Issara Kachaiwong.

Playing the final gave him a lot of confidence as he reached the zenith lifting the Korat Cup, a Thai ranking event, as a wildcard entity. His victim in the final before a hostile crowd was Passakorn Suwannawat.

However, Sajjad was off the mark in the two remaining national ranking events. His national ranking slipped to second after the NBP ranking and later fourth after the Del Monte Cup.

The event also features former world amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf, and two former national champions, Khurram Agha and Naveen Perwani, all of whom have qualified from the provincial cup.

Matches start from 10.00am onwards.