KARACHI, Jan 22 Punjab's Asjad Iqbal will start the defence of his crown when he faces Sindh's Mohammad Ishtiaq in the opening match of the third National Junior Snooker Championship which begins at the Karachi Club on Saturday.

Asjad, who overcame Hamza Akbar 5-2 in the all-Punjab final last year to land the title, is drawn in group 'H'. Hamza, who is placed in group 'C', takes on Sindh's Asad Kamani in his first match at 2.00pm.

Both Asjad and Hamza have international experience as they featured in the IBSF U-21 snooker championship in Kish Island, Iran.

According to the draws, the 32 participants have been equally divided into eight groups. Top two from each group will qualify for the knockout pre quarter-finals to be played on Tuesday. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are slated for the next day while the event concludes on Thursday.

The event carries a total prize money of Rs1,20,000 with winner getting Rs50,000 and runner-up Rs25,000.

Top two players of the event will represent the country in the Asian U-21 snooker championship in Indore, India, from April 7 to 15.

Meanwhile, the PBSA has disqualified NWFP's Sarbuland Khan after he was found overage during scrutiny.

According to Shoaib Alam Khan, who conducted the scrutiny on behalf of PBSA, three NWFP players namely Farhan Hafeez, Aun Kazmi and Mohammad Arif have been asked to produce their original birth certificates/B forms. Players who are U-21 on Dec 31, 2001, are eligible to compete.

Pools

Group ' A' Rizwan Hashmi (Sindh), Mohammad Asim Habib (Punjab), Taha Karim (Sindh), Yasir Rehman (Punjab).

Group 'B' Mian Mohammad Shiraz (Punjab), Ahsan Raza (Sindh), Danial Adil (Sindh), Hamid (Punjab).

Group 'C' Aun Kazmi (NWFP), Asad Kamani (Sindh), Hamza Akbar (Punjab), Fahad Khan (Sindh).

Group ' D' Kamran Ali (Balochistan), Yasir Khan (Sindh), Qamar Zaman Khan (Punjab), Fawad Khan (NWFP).

Group 'E' Nazeer Arsalan (Sindh), Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab), Fayyaz Shafi (Sindh), Mohammad Amir (Balochistan).

Group 'F' Mohammad Rizwan Ali (Punjab), Arif Nadeem (Sindh), Mohammad Arif (NWFP), Abdul Waheed (Balochistan).

Group ' G' Amir Sohail (NWFP), Abdul Rehman (Sindh), Ayaz Khan (Punjab), Sudhesh Kumar (Balochistan).

Group ' H' Rehman Joseph (Balochistan), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Farhan Hafeez (NWFP).

Saturday's fixtures Kamran Ali v Fawad Khan, Mian Mohammad Shiraz v Hamid, Rizwan Hashmi v Yasir Rehman, Aun Kazmi v Fahad Khan at 10.00am; Rehman Joseph v Farhan Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan Ali v Abdul Waheed, Nazeer Arsalan v Mohammad Amir, Amir Sohail v Sudhesh Kumar at 12.00noon; Yasir Khan v Qamar Zaman Khan, Ahsan Raza v Danial Adil, Mohammad Asim Habib v Taha Karim, Asad Kamani v Hamza Akbar at 2.00pm; Mohammad Ishtiaq v Asjad Iqbal, Arif Nadeem v Mohammad Arif, Mohammad Ahsan Javaid v Fayyaz Shafi, Abdul Rehman v Ayaz Khan.