KARACHI, March 31: The postponed 21st edition of the Asian snooker championship will now be held in Pune, India, from July 3 to 10, a spokesman of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) said on Thursday.

The event was earlier scheduled to be held at Mumbai in April but was put off because of lack of sponsorship, a PBSA official said.

Over thirty member associations of the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sport (ACBS) would be featuring in the eight-day competition.

Last year Mohammad Yousuf and Imran Shahzad represented Pakistan in the Asian gala in Jordanian city of Aqaba. Both failed to reach the knock out stage.

According to the new format announced by the PBSA it could conduct the trials to select the two-member Pakistan squad for the championship.

In the past, the winner and runner-up would earn automatic right to represent Pakistan in the Asian championship.

Yousuf, who won the world title in Johannesburg, South Africa, also clinched the Asian title in Karachi in 1998.

He is the only Pakistani to have won both the titles.—APP