June 12, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1428

KARACHI, June 11: Unlike the past, no arrangements have been made to cater for the needs of working journalists who are covering the 23rd Asian Snooker Championship at a local hotel.

There was a complete mess after the second session on the opening day of the championship and no result sheets were available. The journalists were told either to copy the results or wait until the opening ceremony is over.

The matches are taking place in four sessions and with no proper arrangements of media room, the journalists are at the mercy of the organisers.

The PBSA had made befitting arrangements when it hosted the world and Asian championships in the past.

Meanwhile, the schedule of third and fourth sessions was affected as the formal opening ceremony started at 4.30pm, much behind the schedule. Thus the third session began at 5.30pm instead of 5.00pm.

The matches between Chan Hon Kwan and Kim Do-Hoon and Mohammad Al Sheikh versus Nguyen Phuc Long could not be completed before 7.30pm leading to protest by those who were to play on those tables in the last session.

According to the rules, a match is carried forward for next morning if it is not completed on time.

Meanwhile, two women referees — Ms Maryam Bahreman and Ms Tahere Eslami — both from Iran, on Monday made their Asian debut when they supervised the matches.