KARACHI, June 1: The Lawrencepur Snooker Challenge 2005 Indo-Pak Series will begin from June 9 at the Karachi Club. The three-day tournament ends on June 11. At the moment both teams are locked at 1-1. Pakistan won the first Peace Cup two years ago in Karachi at the Karachi Club, but touring India the following year, the host team won the trophy beating Pakistan with comparative ease.

The training camp for the above series will get under way on Friday at the Karachi Club Billiards Hall with Camp Commandant Alamgir Shaikh supervising the proceedings from 11.00 a.m.

The Pakistan team will consist of Saleh Mohammad, Mohammad Yousuf, Naveen Perwani and Imran Shehzad. Missing from the squad will be Farhan Mirza and Khurram Hussain Agha, who both had the distinction of being crowned Pakistan No.1.

Farhan has now settled down in Sweden while Khurram is presently in England.

The Indian team consists of the world champion Pankaj Advani, former Asian champion Alok Kumar, Manan Chandra and Devandra Joshi. The Indian team managed by the legendary Micheal Ferreria is expected to arrive in Karachi on Wednesday morning June 8.

Notable absentee from the Indian squad will be the two time Asian champion Yasin Merchant, a potential force in the Indian lineup. Karachi seems to be the happy hunting ground for Yasin.

Apart from winning the Latif Masters over here a few years ago, Yasin also bagged his second Asian crown in Karachi at a local hotel.