KARACHI: Pakistan’s former world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif has been drawn in group G together with five other cueists in the eight million baht SangSom 6-Red world championship which is being played at Montien Riverside Hotel, Bangkok, from Sept 1 to 6.

Asif, who has been nominated by Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) for his triumph in the Asian 6-Red at Doha last year, takes on Gareth Allen of Wales in the opener on Monday. His next match will be against Scotland’s Greame Dott, also on Monday.

He faces Dechawat Poomjaeng of Thailand on Tuesday while his last two matches will be on Wednesday against Stuart Bingham of England and Andreas Ploner of Australia.

The 48 participants include top 16 entrants from the top 32 professional players on the world snooker main tour, four from Europe, two from Oceania, two from Africa, six nominated by International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF), six nominated by Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS), eight from the host country and four wildcards.

Groups:

A: Mark Davis (England), Dominic Dale (Wales), Ken Doherty (Ireland), Ben Judge (Australia), Thor Chuan Leong (Malaysia), Ratchayothin Yotharuck (Thailand).

B: Mark Selby (England), Michael Holt (England), Michael White (Wales), Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Iran), Hung Chung Ming (Taipei), Noppon Saengkham (Thailand).

C: Barry Hawkins (England), Ryan Day (Wales), Jimmy White (England), Mohsen Bukshaisha (Qatar), Ehsan Hydarinezhad (Iran), Boonyarit Kaettikun (Thailand).

D: Shaun Murphy (England), Robert Milkins (England), Shachar Ruberg (ISR), Shivam Arora (India), Amir Sarkhosh (Iran), Thepchaiya Un-nooh (Thailand).

E: Ricky Walden (England), Matthew Stevens (Wales), Alex Borg (Malaysia), Steve Donohoe (Australia), Kamal Chawla (India), Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Om (Thailand).

F:John Higgins (Scotland), Mark Williams (Wales), Jamie Clark (Wales), Adrian Ridley (Australia), Chaouki Yousfi (MOR), Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Thailand).

G: Stuart Bingham (England), Greame Dott (Scotland), Andreas Pioner (Australia), Gareth Allen (Wales), Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Dechawta Poomjaeng (Thailand).

H: Stephen Maguire (Scotland), Joe Perry (England), Liang Wenbo (China), Kacper Fillpiac (Poland), Ahmed Galal (Egypt), Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon (Thailand).

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014