KARACHI: Four Pakistani cueists open their campaign in the 32nd Asian Snooker Championship which cues off in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

The Pakistani quartet — second seed Mohammad Asif, third seed Mohammad Bilal, fourth seed Sohail Shehzad and Mohammad Sajjad — left for Doha a couple of days ago to train with the host country cueists.

Last year’s runner-up and Indian celebrity Pankaj Advani has been top seeded in the absence of defending champion Hamza Akbar of Pakistan who is competing in pro-circuit in England.

According to draws, 58 cueists have been drawn in 12 groups.

Groups:

A: Pankaj Advani (India), Ali Al Obaidli (Qatar), Sulaiman Al Misfer (Saudi Arabia), Alvin Barbero (Philippines).

B: Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Karam Fatima (Syria), Khalid Alastal (Philippines), Omar Alajlani (Saudi Arabia), Abdul Lateef Al Fawal (Qatar).

C: Mohammad Shehab (UAE), Mohammad Bilal (Pakistan), Meylis Atayev (Turkemenistan), Baek Minhu (Korea), Abdul Rehman Abdul Mohsin (Qatar).

D: Lim Kok Leoun (Malaysia), Manan Chandra (India), Adel Ibrahim (Iraq), Sohail Shehzad (Pakistan), Ahmed Abdullah Asiri (Saudi Arabia).

E: Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Thailand), Habib Subah (Bahrain), Ali Jalil Ali (Iraq), Kamaladdin Babayev (Turkemenistan), Mohanna Al Obaidli (Qatar).

F: Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong), Mohammad Al Joakar (UAE),Roda Jafery (Philippines), Mohammad Rikaz Munas (Sri Lanka), Annamamed Annamamedov (Turkemenistan)

G: Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore), Aami Sarkhosh (Iran), Kim Young Joo (Korea), Sundeep Gulati (India), Bashar Abdul Majeed (Qatar).

H: Putra Gebby Adi Wibawa (Indonesia), Fung Kwok Wai (Hong Kong), Chee Keong Chan (Singapore), Michael Mengorio (Philippines), Khalid Al Salem (Qatar).

J:Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan), Ahmed Saif (Qatar), Au Chi Chung (Hong Kong), Ahmed Janahi (Bahrain), Mohammad Shamil Ameen (Sri Lanka).

K: Moh Keen Hoo (Malaysia), Soheil Vahedi (Iran), Hwang Chul Ho (Korea), Hani A I Kanan (Palestine), Ishpreet Chaddha (India).

L: Yuttapop Pakpoj (Thailand), Mohsen Bukhshaisha (Qatar), Ali Hussein Ali (Iraq), Ibrahim Hassan (Jordan), Hussein Mahmood (Bahrain),

M: Ang Boon Chin (Singapore), Arman Dinarvand (Iran), Mohammad Al Shamsi (UAE), Maksoud Abdul Karim (Syria).

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2016