KARACHI, Feb 24 Punjab earned a lion's share of eight places among top 16 as the National Junior U-21 Snooker championship entered the knockout pre quarter-finals stage at the Karachi Club on Tuesday.

Displaying a pathetic performance, Sindh cueists failed to match the brilliance of Punjab and saw only four players progressing to the next round.

Three players from Balochistan and one from NWFP completed the pre quarters line up.

Junior Sindh champion Mohammad Ishtiaq was the surprising omission as he suffered second successive defeat in Pool 'A' at the hands of Arsalan Munir of Punjab to finish third. The latter was home 53-32, 24-70, 12-65, 48-37, 39-7.

Another notable player who failed to qualify was junior NWFP champion Umer Ejaz.

Title holder Ayaz Khan, meanwhile, rounded off his group matches when he whipped Sindh's Abdul Basit straight to maintain a clean slate.

Promising Azeem Yousuf also chalked up a convincing 3-1 victory over Balochistan's Kamran to top Group 'H' with three victories.

The pre quarter-finals will be played in two sessions on Wednesday.

Results

Zeeshan Liaquat (NWFP) bt Usman Shaikh (Punjab) 3-2 (first frame awarded to Zeeshan, 53-33, 12-75, 19-64, 59-32); Qamar Zaman Khan (Punjab) bt Salman A. Siddique (Sindh) 3-0 (67-31, 66-37, 57-47); Agha Bilawal (Sindh) bt Arsalan Sarwer (Punjab) 3-1 (59-32, 28-75, 57-23, 74-23); M. Yasir Khan (Sindh) bt M. Shiraz (Punjab) 3-1 (56-33, 25-54, 57-25, 69-36); Abdul Raziq (Balochistan) bt Fahad (Sindh) 3-1 (42-54, 64-26, 56-25, 59-41); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt

Ahsan Raza (Sindh) 3-1 (63-33, 43-49, 55-3, 85-19); Arsalan Munir (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh) 3-2 (53-32, 24-70, 12-65, 48-37, 39-7); Umer Ejaz (NWFP) bt Asadullah Rogatia (Sindh) 3-2 (66-31, 38-68, 48-71, 64-31, 60-20); M. Azeem Yousuf (Sindh) bt Kamran (Balochistan) 3-1 (10-72, 70-8, 56-37, 63-20); Imran Ali (Balochistan) bt Fawad Khan (NWFP) 3-0 (45-39, 49-21, 59-55); Farhad Ali (Balochistan) bt M. Javed Iqbal (NWFP) 3-1 (53-6, 53-20, 50-66, 62-23); Amjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Qamar U. Zaman (Balochistan) 3-2 (80-9, 37-62, 41-55, 62-55, 65-26); M. Fakil Nazir (Punjab) bt Ihsan Ali (NWFP) 3-0 (55-23, 86-18, 57-45); Hamid Yunus (Punjab) bt Haris Nadeem (Sindh) 3-1 (38-55, 68-29, 91-26, 64-46); Hamza Akber (Punjab) bt Sheroze Anis (Sindh) 3-1 (55-24, 49-57, 69-31, 61-8); Ayaz Khan (Punjab) bt Abdul Basit (Sindh) 3-0 (63-12, 78-10, 50-19).

Wednesday's fixtures (pre quarter-finals)

Hamza Akber v Imran Ali, Asadullah Rogatia v Abdul Raziq, Agha Bilawal v M. Yasir Khan, Hamid Yunus v M. Azeem Yousuf (10.00am); Qamar Zaman Khan v Arsalan Sarwer, Kamran v Amjad Iqbal, Mohammad Afzal v Zeeshan Liaquat, Arsalan Munir v Ayaz Khan (12noon).