12 September 2004	Sunday	26 Rajab 1425

KARACHI, Sept 11: The 18th Latif Masters Snooker Championship, the blue ribband of the four ranking tournaments cues off on Sunday, when the nation's top 16 players will vie for the spoils at the Karachi Club.

The tournament will be divided into two Groups consisting of eight players playing in each group.

Khurram Hussain Agha has been top seeded and is followed by Saleh Mohammad, with former world champion Mohammad Yousuf ranked third.

Naveen Perwani is in the fourth spot, followed by Atiq Latif Bux, Latif Amir Bux at No.5 and Imran Shahzad at No.6.Mohammad Nazir is at No.7 and left-hander Vishan Gir is the eight seeded player.

The other eight players in the tournament are Amit Parwani, Shakeel Bhatti, Abu Saim, the Rambel Gul, Shah Khan, Minhas Malik, Mohammad Asifand Mohammad Akhlas, who forced his way into the last 16. The tournament lasting six long days will conclude on Sept 17.

The winner and runner up in each group will make it to the semifinal, with the winner of Group A playing the runner-up of Group B, and the winner of Group B playing the runner-up of Group A for a berth in the final round.

The semifinal will consist of 11 frames, while the final will be played in the best of 13 frames.

The total prize money in this tournament, amounts to Rs240,000. The winner will receive Rs100,000 while the runner-up will go home richer by Rs60,000.

The two runners-up will receive Rs25,000 each and the two third placed players in Group A and B will receive Rs10,000 each. The cueist chalking up the highest break will receive Rs10,000.

Each player will have to play two matches on each day.

Following is the playing schedule for Sunday.

Mohammad Nazir (Punjab v/s Amit Parwani (Sindh) on Table No.1

Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v/s Shah Khan (NWFP) on Table No.2.

Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) v/s Mohammad Asif (Punjab) on Table No. 3.

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v/s Rambel Gul (NWFP) on Table No.4.

From 12.00 p.m.

Vishan Gir (Sindh) v/s Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh) on Table No.1.

Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) v/s Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh) on Table No.2.

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v/s Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh) on Table No.3.

Atif Latif Bux (Sindh) v/s Abu Saim (Punjab) on Table No.4.

From 0200 p.m.

Mohammad Nazir (Punjab) v/s Rambel Gul (NWFP) on Table No.1

Naveen Perwani (Sindh) v/s Mohammad Asif (Punjab) on Table No.2

Khurram Agha (Sindh) v/s Shah Khan (NWFP) on Table No.3.

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) v/s Amit Parwani (Sindh) on Table No.4.

From 0400 p.m.

Vishan Gir (Sindh) v/s Abu Saim (Punjab) on Table No.1.

Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) v/s Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh) on Table No.2.

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) v/s Minhas Malik (Sindh) on Table No.3.

Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) v/s Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh) on Table No.4.