KARACHI, Aug 11: Naveen Pervani will defend his title when the 21st edition of the Latif Masters snooker championship starts at Karachi Club's Amir Bakhsh Hall from Aug 29 to Sept 2, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) joint secretary Arif Taherbhoy said on Saturday.

He said country's top 16 cueists would feature in the event and in case of withdrawal from any one of them, no other cueist would replace him.

Taherbhoy added that the players would be divided in two pools and top cueist from each pool will qualify for seven-frame final.

He said there would be six frames in league round matches and one point would be awarded for each frame win.

The PBSA secretary expressed hopes that Saleh Mohammad and current Asian championship Khurram Agha, who are undergoing training at the Thailand School of Snooker Excellence, would return home on time to participate in the championship.

The event is the fourth and last event of domestic circuit.

Participating cueists:

Naveen Pervani (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh), Khurram Agha (Sindh), Raees Khan (Punjab), Saleh Mohammad (NWFP), Rambail Gul (NWFP), Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Atif Mughal (Punjab), Vishan Gir (Sindh), Imtiaz Tipu (Punjab), Sohail Shahzad (Sindh), Mohammad Nazir (Punjab), M. Shahid (Punjab), M. Riaz (Sindh), Shehram Changezi (Punjab).—APP