KARACHI, March 5: Upcoming Azeem Yousuf crossed first hurdle by making it to the knockout quarter-finals of the National Juniors Snooker Championship at the Karachi Club on Wednesday.

He rounded-off the league matches by notching up two back-to-back victories to finish with four wins and a defeat in group D.

First he routed Mohammad Shahram of Sindh 3-1 (60-24, 49-60, 58-10, 71-18) and then disposed off Balochistan’s Abdul Ghafoor by the identical score line (71-46, 12-85, 77-39, 53-14).

He is likely to be joined by Punjab’s Tahir Abbas who has accumulated three straight wins and plays his remaining two matches on Thursday.

Punjab’s Ahsan Javed has also seized a place in the last eight from group A by emerging victorious in four matches apart from losing one to Sindh’s Umair Alam Khan 2-3 in a thriller.

Similarly, Punjab’s Mohammad Afzal and Mohammad Imran have ensured a berth in the quarter-finals from group B and C respectively.

The league matches concludes on Thursday.

Results:

Ahsan Javed (Pun) bt M. Hassan Anis (Sindh) 3-0 (59-53, 55-20, 67-21); Ahmed Shah (Bal) bt Ramiz Aftab (NWFP) 3-2 (18-53, 44-55, 78-50, 64-15, 63-49); Mohsin Abbas (Bal) bt S. Abbas Rizvi (Sindh) 3-0 (52-33, 62-30, 63-46); Azeem Yousuf (Sindh) bt Mohammad Shahram (Sindh) 3-1 (60-24, 49-

60, 58-10, 71-18); Ayaz Khan (Pun) bt Ahsan Raza (Sindh) 3-0 (first frame awarded to Ayaz, 55-5, 82-29); Hamid Younus (Pun) bt Salman Ahmed Siddiqui (Sindh) 3-1 (54-23, 80-14, 43-48, 96-9); Mohammad Imran (Pun) bt Mohammad Haseeb (Sindh) 3-0 (67-25, 65-58, 73-36); Haroon Anwer (NWFP) bt Mohammad Noman Qamar (Pun) 3-0 (53-45, 61-14, 66-41); Umair Alam Khan (Sindh) bt Ahsan Javed (Pun) 3-2 (72-30, 34-60, 54-83, 67-8, 56-34); Mohammad Afzal (Pun) bt Ramiz Aftab (NWFP) 3-0 (64-25, 57-17, 71-37); Mohsin Abbas (Bal) bt Asim Khan (NWFP) 3-2 (51-54, 29-54, 81-21, 61-34, 73-7); Azeem Yousuf (Sindh) bt Abdul Ghafoor (Bal) 3-1 (71-46, 12-85, 77-39, 53-14); Ahsan Raza (Sindh) bt M. Hassan Anis (Sindh) 3-0 (57-34, 55-16, 58-11); Ahmed Shah (Bal) bt Salman Ahmed Siddiqui (Sindh) 3-2 (53-58, 58-13, 56-28, 36-56, 83-57); Mohammad Imran (Pun) bt S. Abbas Rizvi (Sindh) 3-1 (59-26, 26-53, 55-30, 77-32); Mohammad Noman Qamar (Pun) bt Mohammad Shahram (Sindh) 3-1 (79-31, 52-58, 59-21, 80-25).Thursday’s fixtures:

Matches of first session begins at 10.00am.