KARACHI, April 23: Pakistan’s Khurram Agha has been second seeded, behind the top seed Yasin Merchant of India in the 24th Asian Snooker Championship to be staged at Dubai’s Police Officers Club from May 3 to 10, according to a draw received here from the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) on Tuesday.

Khurram, who finished third in last year’s Asian championship that was held in Karachi in May, is also drawn in the easier Group ‘B’.

The other seeded cueists taking part in the event are China’s Jin Long (3), Thailand’s Passakoran Suwannwar (4), UAE’s Mohammad Mustufa Shehab (5), China’s Zhang Anda (6), Malaysia’s Moo Keen Hoo (7) and Thailand’s Nepotal Sangnil (8).

The former world championship runner-up Saleh Muhammad and debutant Muhammad Sajjad Butt have been placed in Group ‘A’ and ‘D’, respectively, of the 22-nation competition.

Supoj Saenia of Thailand, who blanked Yasin Merchant 7-0 in last year’s final will not be taking part in this 51-cuemen competition.

Meanwhile, a week-long training and coaching camp for the Pakistan team commenced here on Wednesday under coach Bilal Mughal.

Following are the groups:

Group ‘A’: Yasin Merchant (India), Salim Ali Salim (UAE), Saleh Mohammad (Pakistan), Nguyen Nhat Thanh (Vietnam), Abdullah Al-Okaily (Jordan) and Ahmad Mazahedi (Iran).

Group ‘B’: Khurram Agha (Pakistan), Mohammad Al Joker (UAE), Yusuke Tanaka (Japan), Mohammad Al Tarkait (Kuwait), Muhammad Nadir Sultani (Afghanistan) and Pham Thanh Thuy (Vietnam).

Group ‘C’: Jin Long (China), Ahmad Abdul Qader (UAE), Mohsen A. Aziz (Qatar), Thepchaiya Un-Noo (Thailand), Lee Po-Hsien (Chinese Taipei) and Aditiya Mehta (India).

Group ‘D’: Passakoran Suwannawat (Thailand), Eissa Al Sayed (UAE), Muhammad Sajjad (Pakistan), Lai Chee Wei (Malaysia), Khalid Al Awais (Kuwait) and Ahmed Abdulla Aseeri (Saudi Arabia).

Group ‘E’: Mohammad Mustafa Shehab (UAE), F. Boon Aun (Singapore), Ahmed Saif (Qatar), Takao Kurimota (Japan), Zuriash Hashim (Sri Lanka) and Kim Do Hoon (Korea).

Group ‘F’: Zhang Anda (China), Pankaj Advani (India), Habib Subah (Bahrain), Omar Ali Alajiani (Saudi Arabia), Hwang Chui Ho (Korea), Au Chi-Wai (Hong Kong) and Omar Al Kojah (Syria).

Group ‘G’: Moo Keen Hoo (Malaysia), Obaid Khalifa (UAE), Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore), Renat William Denkha (Iraq), Navid Shafel (Iran), Susantha Boteju (Sri Lanka) and Khalid Al Damen (Jordan). Group ‘H’: Nepotal Sangnil (Thailand), Salim bin Dihban (UAE), Hisham Al Saqar (Bahrain), A Bulajaing (China), Ayhad Hasan Nissuui (Iraq), Lin Su-Hung (Chinese Taipei) and Fung Kwok Wai (Hong Kong).

—APP