KARACHI Five national champions including incumbent Mohammad Asif, open their campaign in the National Ranking snooker tournament which gets into action at the Karachi Club today.

The four past champions include veteran Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Sajjad, Khurram Agha and Naveen Perwani. Yousuf, a former world and Asian champion, will be making his appearance on a wildcard granted by the games controlling body, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA).

With an unparalleled experience under his belt, Yousuf faces 2008 champion Mohammad Sajjad in his opening tie at 10.00am. Reigning national champion Asif, the top seed, who stunned the then holder Sajjad 6-2 to win the 34th National snooker title in March, meets Hamza Akbar in the opener in morning session.

Billed as a fierce battle, Khurram Agha is drawn to meet Naveen Perwani in the last session at 4.00pm.

The event carries a total prize money of Rs115,000 with winner getting Rs40,000 and runner-up Rs30,000. Sponsored by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), the event concludes on June 1.

Meanwhile, a fresh central contract will be offered to top eight cueists for the next three months on the basis of national rankings to be released on the completion of the event.

The central contract was introduced by the PBSA after the 34th National snooker championship in March.

Wednesday's fixtures

Sharjeel Mahmood v Naeem Jaffer, Mohammad Sajjad v Mohammad Yousuf, Mohammad Asif v Hamza Akbar, Raees Khan v Bahadur Baloch at 10.00am; Sultan Mohammad v Asjid Iqbal, Imran Shahzad v Mohammad Naeem, Inamur Rehman v Mohammad Asif Toba, Rambel Gul v Shahdab Baig at 12.00noon; Qasim Kamani v Kamran Razzak, Mohammad Javed v Kamran Shah, Vishan Gir v Umer Alam, Sohail Shahzad v Saqib Butt at 2.00pm; Khurram Agha v Naveen Perwani, Mohammad Afzal v Qadeer Butt, Agha Bilal v Noman Awan, Mohammad Nazeer v Javed Ansari