KARACHI, July 22: Pakistan's No.1 Khurram Hussain Agha defends his title when the 13th Snooker Cup ranking tournament cues off on Sunday morning July 25th at the Area Snooker Club in Gizri.

Thirty-two of the top ranking players in the country will be vying for the spoils and will be divided into eight groups consisting of four players each.

The top two players in each group will progress to the pre-quarterfinals round.

Khurram from Sindh is top seeded in the tournament and is followed by World No.2 Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) at No.2, former world and Asian amateur snooker champion Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) at No.3, Imran Shahzad (Punjab) at No.4, Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) No.5, Vishan Gir (Sindh) No.6, Amit Parwani (Sindh) No.7 and Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh) No.8.

Four notable cueists will be missing from this tournament. Farhan Mirza (Punjab) former national and junior national champion and runner-up 1-6 to Khurram last year, is now presently based in Sweden. Also missing for the very first time since the ranking tournaments began is Pakistan skipper and No.4 Naveen Perwani (Sindh), who also missed out in the recently held Peace Cup held in India due to his father's illness.

Former ranking player Arifullah (NWFP) is the third absentee, not to mention Faiq Malik from Punjab.

Inducted into the tournament from the recently held Sindh Cup will be Irfan Rashid Khan, Kamran Razzak and Mukhtar Khan, who have participated in the ranking tournaments in the past.

Sindh has 15 participants in the tournament, Punjab (11), NWFP (4) and Balochistan (2).

The championship carries a total amount of Rs.187,000, with the winner pocketing Rs.60,000 and the runner-up receiving Rs.35,000. The two semi finalists will receive Rs.15,000 each and the four quarterfinalists will receive Rs.8.000 apiece.

The eight cueists that make it through to the pre-quarterfinals will each receive Rs.3000 and the cueist that registers the highest break during the tournament will go home richer by 6000.