KARACHI, Sept 23 Billed as the toughest event of the domestic calendar, the Del Monte Snooker Cup which is the third ranking competition of the year, cue off at the Karachi Club on Sept 28 (Tuesday) with top 16 cueists of the country vying for honours.

With the lukewarm response of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) towards the baize game, the event will also serve as a curtain-raiser for the Guangzhou Asian Games which are slated in November.

The details of the event which carries a total purse of Rs105,000 were announced at a luncheon press briefing held at the KC on Thursday.

The top 16 players who will be featuring in the contest have been equally drawn in two groups.

Group A comprises Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Umair Alam (Sindh), Qasim Kamani (Sindh), Abdul Sattar (Sindh) and Rambel Gul (KPK).

Group B includes Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Imran Qamar (Punjab), Mohammad Javed (Punjab), Sharjeel Mehmood (KPK), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh), Shehram Changezi (Punjab) and Nauman Awan (KPK).

Top two players of the two groups will advance into the pre-finals which will be played simultaneously on Oct 2 while the final is slated for Oct 3. The group matches will be played on best of seven frames.

According to prize money break up, the winner will get Rs50,000 while the runner up receives Rs30,000. A sum of Rs5,000 has been set aside for the highest break (60 and above).

Speaking on the occasion, sponsor Anjum Nisar said this was his first venture in sports and assured to continue assistance in future also.

The former KCCI president has come to the rescue of the PBSA by sponsoring their third ranking event with a financial support of Rs0.4 million.

The president of PBSA, Alamgir Shaikh, said two players who will attain No 1 and 2 ranking on completion of the third event will be eligible to represent the country in the IBSF World Snooker Championship being held at Damascus in December.

Criticising the government's apathy the PBSA chief said “With little over a month to go in Asian Games, we are waiting for our annual grant and have not yet received a penny from the PSB, what to speak of hiring a coach.”