KARACHI: The sixth National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ranking snooker championship – the second ranking event of the year – takes place at the NBP Sports Complex from Sept 10 to 18, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBS F) announced on Thursday.

Top 40 cueists of the national rankings released after the 39th National Snooker Championship, will feature in the event.

Top two cueists of the national rankings that will be released after the NBP event will be eligible to represent the country in the Internati­onal Billiards and Snooker Federa­tion (IBSF) snooker championship being held at Bangalore in November. Earlier, the IBSF event was scheduled to take place in October.

Meanwhile, former world amateur snooker champion, Mohammad Asif, leaves for Bangkok on Saturday to compete in the Sangsom pro-am snooker championship which takes place there from Sept 1 to 7.

He has been extended special invitation from the organisers on the basis of winning the Asian 6-reds title at Doha, Qatar, last year.

It is pertinent to mention that the PBSF domestic calendar has been badly affected due to the hectic schedule of international events which is evident from the fact that only a single event — the 39th National Snooker Championship — had taken place so far.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2014