KARACHI: Twenty-seven cueists including 24 top-ranked and three juniors, are set to compete in the Langnese ranking snooker cup — the third domestic event of the calendar — when it cues off at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex on Saturday.

Billed to serve as a qualifier for selecting top 16 for next year’s national championship, the event has gained significance as second seed and losing finalist of the recently held International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) world championship Mohammad Sajjad will make his first appearance before the home crowd.

The details of the event were announced by Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) president Alamgir Shaikh at a press conference at Karachi Gymkhana on Thursday.

Sajjad, who arrived from Bangalore the other day, was in attendance with his world runner-up trophy besides PBSF officials Abdul Wahid Qadir, Munawwar Shaikh, sponsor Anjum Nisar and Christopher of the NBP.

The three juniors who will make their appearance include Abdul Raheem and Mohammad Faheem from Punjab and Mohammad Haris Nadeem from Sindh.

Speaking on the occasion, the sponsor applauded PBSF’s role for taking the game to new heights in a short span of time.

“Snooker has a potential in the country and victory in global event serves as image branding of the nation,” the former Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president said.

He assured that his firm’s relationship with the country’s governing body of the game will grow with the passage of time.

Snooker maestro Sajjad demanded of the government to financially support the result-oriented game of snooker on merit otherwise its graph will start falling.

Alamgir disclosed that some 30 to 35 nations are expected to compete in the third IBSF 6-Red snooker and team event men and women and masters’being held here in Aug next.

He further said three promising cueists — Hamza Akbar, Mohammad Majid Ali and Asjad Iqbal — will travel to China to attend a month long coaching programme in Beijing soon.

Responding to another question about Kashmir Road Snooker Academy the PBSF chief expressed optimism and said he will give good news in this regard soon.

He said the NBP has offered contractual appointment to Hamza and the total number of snooker players employed with the bank comes to five. The four who are already serving in the bank are Asif, Sajjad, Asjad and Majid.

Meanwhile, the 27 players have been drawn into four groups and top two from each will qualify for the knockout quarter-finals. The event concludes on Dec 13.

The event carries total prize money of Rs150,000. The winners will receive Rs60,000 while the runner up will get Rs35,000 apart from losing semi-finalists, quarter-finslists and highest break purse.

Mohammad Asif, a former world amateur champion, will defend his crown.

Groups:

A: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Mohammad Imran (Punjab).

B: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Amir Tariq (Punjab), Abdul Raheem (Punjab).

C: Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab), Khurram Agha (Sindh), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Mohammad Haris Nadeem (Sindh).

D: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Hamza Akbar (Punjab), Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Yasir Shehzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Babar Masih (Punjab), Mohammad Faheem (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2014