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KARACHI, July 24: Thirty-two of the top ranking cueists in the country will be vying for the spoils, when the 13th Snooker Cup ranking tournament gets under way on Sunday morning from 10.a.m. at the Area Snooker Club in Gizri.
Sindh's Khurram Agha is top seeded in the tournament and is followed by current World No.2 Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) the second seed. Former world and Asian amateur snooker champion Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) is at No.3, Imran Shahzad (Punjab) at No.4, Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) No.5, Vishan Gir (Sindh) No.6, Amit Parwani (Sindh) No.7 and Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh) No.8.
Last year's runner-up Farhan Mirza, a former national and junior national champion will be missing from this tournament.
Farhan who went down 1-6 to Khurram in the finals last year at the same venue, is presently based in Sweden with his family.
Among three other notable absentees from this tournament is the Pakistan skipper and No.4 Naveen Perwani, who will be missing a ranking tournament for the very first time due his father Ramesh's illness.
Naveen also missed the recently held Peace Cup held in Chandiragh against arch rivals India, where Pakistan lost all three Tests to India, the first time the Indians came out victorious in a tournament against Pakistan.
Former ranking player Arifullah (NWFP) is another notable absentee, not to mention Faiq Malik, a promising snooker player from Punjab.
Inducted into the tournament from the recently held Sindh Cup will be Irfan Rashid Khan, Kamran Razzak and Mukhtar Khan. All three however, are seasoned players and have participated in the ranking tournaments held in the past.
Sindh has 15 participants in the tournament, Punjab (11), NWFP (4) and Balochistan (2).
The championship carries a total amount of Rs.1,87000, with the winner pocketing Rs.60,000 and the runner-up receiving Rs.35,000. The two semi finalists will receive Rs.15,000 each and the four quarterfinalists will receive Rs.8.000 apiece.
The eight cueists that make it through to the pre-quarterfinals will each receive Rs.3000 and the cueist that registers the highest break during the tournament will go home richer by Rs.6000.
The players will be divided into eight groups with each group consisting of four cueists.
They are as follows:
GROUP A: Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh), Imran Mughal (Punjab), Kamran Shah (Balochistan) and Mukhtar Khan (Sindh).
GROUP B: Saleh Mohammad (NWFP), Saqib Butt (Punjab), Masood Ahmed (Sindh) and Kamran Razzak (Sindh).
GROUP C: Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh), Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh), M. Imtiaz Tipu (Punjab), and Irfan Rasheed Khan (Sindh).
GROUP D: Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Minhas Malik (Sindh), Janan Khan (Balochistan) and Shahid Ali (Punjab).
GROUP E: Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh), Shah Khan (NWFP), Shakir Rafiq (Sindh) and Wajed Khan (NWFP).
GROUP F: Vishan Gir (Sindh), Rambel Gul (NWFP), Mohammad Asif (Punjab) and Mohammad Amin (Sindh).
GROUP G: Amit Parwani (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Shehram Changezi (Punjab) and Shahid Ilyas (Punjab).
GROUP H: Shakeel Bhatti ((Sindh), Mohammad Nazir (Punjab), Raees Khan (Punjab) and Farrukh Usman (Sindh).
The top two players in each group will progress to the pre-quarterfinals.
