August 19, 2006	Saturday	Rajab 23, 1427

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KARACHI, Aug 18: Saleh Mohammad, the former world No 2, is a major absentee from the 15th AKD Snooker Cup which gets into action at the Karachi Club on Monday.

He last made his appearance in the 31st National Snooker Championship held in March this year where he failed to defend his crown after being whipped by eventual champion Khurram Agha 6-1 in the semi-final.

To the surprise of all and sundry, Saleh stayed away from the following two competitions — Pakistan Cue Masters and Style Snooker Cup — after confirming his entries.

His absence has raised quite a number of eyebrows as he was not penalised by the game’s controlling body.

Another player to miss the event is Atiq Latif Bux who has gone abroad for studies.

According to the draws, the 16 participants have been drawn into four groups.

Imran Shehzad, losing finalist of the Nationals, tops group ‘A’. National champion Khurram Agha heads group ‘B’. The 13-time national champion, Mohammad Yousuf, leads group ‘C’ followed by Naveen Perwani who spearheads group ‘D’.

Defending champion Abu Saim, who is drawn in group ‘B’, launches his campaign when he meets Vishan Gir at 10am on the opening day.

Sixteen matches spread over four sessions will be played on the opening day of the contest. This will be followed by eight matches on the next day. The quarter-finals will be played on Aug 23, semi-finals on Aug 24 and final on Aug 25.

The winner will receive Rs50,000 while runner-up will earn Rs30,000 out of total prize money of Rs1,45,000.

Off the 16, eight players belong to the upcountry and were supposed to arrive here on Friday, two days ahead of the event.

Meanwhile, the KC billiards hall was not spared by rains when the flow of water made its entry destroying wall-to-wall carpet the other day.

Next month’s Latif Masters will bring down the curtain on the domestic circuit with probables preparing for the Dec 1 to 15 Doha Asian Games.

Groups:

‘A’: Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Salman Shaikh (Sindh), Syed Mesam Zaidi (Sindh), Irfan Rasheed Khan (Sindh).

‘B’: Khurram Agha (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Vishan Gir (Sindh), Imran Qamar (Punjab).

‘C’: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh), Rambel Gul (NWFP), Saqib Butt (Punjab), Raees Khan (Punjab).

‘D’: Naveen Perwani (Sindh), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Imtiaz Tipu (Punjab).