Top seed of the tournament Khurram Agha —APP/File photo

KARACHI Top seed Khurram Agha, a former national champion, hammered first century break (117) in his 4-3 triumph over local player Agha Bilawal as his contemporary and ex-national champion Naveen Perwani crashed out of the 34th National Snooker Championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.

Khurram's break came in the second frame as he battled after going into a 2-3 deficit to register 70-28, 137-0, 39-74, 21-67, 73-80, 70-27, 61-40 win over his opponent to top Group 'A'.

Naveen, who won the national title two years back, suffered a stunning straight defeat at the hands of Punjab's junior cueist Mohammad Afzal to make an unceremonious exit. Afzal won 122-16, 71-17, 73-57, 80-53.

Playing on the adjacent table, defending champion Mohammad Sajjad also faced stiff resistance in overcoming province-mate Qadeer Butt by the identical margin. He was home 62-27, 43-65, 47-63, 47-46, 63-22, 39-61, 80-0 to move into the next stage from Group 'D' with three wins.

Those who advanced into knockout stage are Khurram Agha and Agha Bilawal (Group 'A'); Mohammad Afzal and Sharjeel (Group 'B'); Inamur Rehman and Qasim Kamani (Group 'C'); Mohammad Sajjad and Rambel Gul (Group 'D'); Imran Shehzad and Mohammad Jawed (Group 'E'); Mohammad Asif and Sultan Mohammad (Group 'F'); Raees Khan and Sohail Shehzad (Group 'G'); Mohammad Nazeer and Vishan Gir (Group 'H').The pre-quarter-finals are to be played on Thursday in two sessions. The first session begins at 10.00am.

Results
Vishan Gir (Sindh) bt Atif Mughal (Punjab) 4-3 (37-54, 63-37, 33-64, 63-42, 43-66, 80-30, 54-42); Mohammad Asif (Punjab) bt Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) 4-2 (60-40, 7-64, 33-73, 54-7, 68-47, 72-33); Imran Shehzad (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) 4-0 (80-46, 80-13, 60-52, 57-41); Raees Khan (Punjab) bt Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) 4-1 (88-27, 59-34, 1-78, 91-8, 55-47); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Qadeer Butt (Punjab) 4-3 (62-27, 43-65, 47-63, 47-46, 63-22, 39-61, 80-0); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Naveen Perwani (Sindh) 4-0 (122-16, 71-17, 73-57, 80-53); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Agha Bilawal (Sindh) 4-3 (70-28, 137-0, 39-74, 21-67, 73-80, 70-27, 61-40); Qasim Kamani (Sindh) bt Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) 4-3 (68-38, 70-22, 42-54, 45-56, 64-33, 19-56, 57-51); Kamran Razzak (Sindh) bt Mohammad Naeem (Punjab) 4-2 (38-71, 50-45, 29-74, 78-0, 74-31, 72-53); Mohammad Jawed (Punjab) bt Javed Ansari (Sindh) 4-0 (53-48, 77-51, 60-4, 54-45); Saqib Butt (Punjab) bt Shadab Baig (Sindh) 4-2 (61-25, 63-15, 17-61, 63-15, 15-52, 78-13); Rambel Gul (NWFP) bt Abid Hussain (Balochistan) 4-1 (113-0, 87-17, 62-21, 35-72, 58-44); Sharjeel (NWFP) bt Bahadur (Balochistan) 4-0 (65-26, 74-16, 65-35, 51-26); Nauman Awan (NWFP) bt Naeem Jaffer (Balochistan) 4-2 (51-59, 61-27, 61-10, 67-23, 32-70, 68-23); Inamur Rehman (NWFP) bt Kamran Shah (Balochistan) 4-0 (80-8, 56-47, 60-15, 66-10).