KARACHI, Jan 30: The Jubilee Insurance 37th National Snooker Championship, the first ranking event of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) calendar, cues off at the Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday with a revised format of 40 players vying for honours and enhanced prize money of Rs 201,000.

The list of participants envisaged 16 seeded players, six qualifiers each from Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four qualifiers from Balochistan, and top two juniors.

The top two players of the event will be eligible to represent the country in the 28th Asian snooker championship which is slated at Doha from April 20 to 28.

The details of the event were announced by PBSA president, Alamgir Shaikh, at a press conference held at Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Sponsors Tahir Ahmed and Javed Ahmed, secretary PBSA, Munawar Hussain Sheikh, president of the KG, Ali Rahim, were prominent among others, who were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the sponsors said they have come to stay and promote the baize game. “We’ll be sponsoring the six-nation international event also in March,” they added.  They heaved praise on PBSA president for carrying out commendable job.

Ali Rahim said the doors of

KG were always open for promotion of sports and assured to lend support in future.

According to prize money break-up, the winner will receive Rs70,000 while the runner-up will earn Rs40,000. The losing semi-finalists, quarter-finalists and pre quarter-finalists will get Rs15,000, Rs8,000 and Rs3,000 respectively. An amount of Rs5,000 has been set aside for the highest break.

Group A: Imran Shahzad (Punjab), Bilawal Agha (Sindh), Balochistan No 2; Yasir Shahzad (KP); Vishan Gir (Sindh).

Group B: Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Umair Alam (Sindh), Rambel Gul (KP), Balochistan No 4, Abu Saim (Punjab).

Group C: Sharjeel Mehmood (KP), Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab), Khurram Agha (Sindh), Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Shafiullah (KP).

Group D: Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Naveen Perwani (Sindh), Mohammad Afzal (Punjab), Javed Ansari (Sindh), Noman Awan (KP).

Group E: Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Mohammad Imran (Punjab), Balochistan No 1, Farhan Khan (KP), Ali Raza (Punjab).

Group F: Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Mohammad Javed (Punjab), Shah Khan (KP), Balochistan No 3, Mohammad Akmal (Sindh).

Group G: Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Farhan Noor (Punjab), Mohammad Majid (Junior No 2).

Group H: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Mohammad Nazeer (Punjab), Farrukh Usman (Sindh), Hunain Amir (Junior No 1).