KARACHI: Curtains will be unrolled when the 18-nation third Jubilee Insurance 6-Reds and team snooker championships cue off at Movenpick hotel on Friday.

The men’s and women’s matches will be played concurrently in five sessions starting 10am. The first session will be followed by sessions at 12noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

All the 18 nations have fielded their cueists in the men’s 6-Reds event. The players have been drawn into 14 groups and top three will qualify for the last 42-round. Ten players will be eliminated in the next stage and 32 will vie in the next round.

Indian celebrity Pankaj Advani, who arrived Thursday evening, will defend his 6-Reds title. He has been drawn in group A. The Indian contingent that arrived in batches, comsists of 11 men, seven women and one official.

Hosts Pakistan has fielded 14 players in the 6-Reds.Mohammad Sajjad and Mohammad Asif have been placed in group C and P respectively.

Four nations — Latvia, Philippines, India and Hong Kong — will compete for honours in the ladies 6-Reds. The title has fallen vacant in the absence of Thai player Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan.

Four cueists from the each group will advance into the quarter-finals.

The venue, Darbar Hall of the hotel, presents a fascinating look where sixteen new tables, imported from China, have been erected.

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) president Alamgir Shaikh said that he was little dejected following the last minute withdrawal of a couple of countries for various reasons.

“I was expecting at least 25 to 26 nations but Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Syria, Sweden and Ireland withdrew from the event at the last moment,” he told Dawn.

It is pertinent to mention that under him the PBSF had organised a number of international events including seven-nation tournament, Asian championship, Asian 6-Reds and team event in the past to name a few.

It was his predecessor Asghar Valika who helped organise the world championship in Pakistan in 1993.

Groups:

Women’s:

A: Tatjana Vasijeva (Latvia), Denise Santos (Philippines), Amee Kamani), Neeta Sanghvi (India), Arantxa Sanchis (India), Ka Kai Wan (Hong Kong).

B: Vidya Pillai (India), Chitra Magimairajan (India), Revanna Umadevi (India), Ng On Yee (Hong Kong), Suniti Damani (India), Floritza Andal (Philippines).

Men’s:

A: Pankaj Advani (India), Keen Hoo Moh (Malaysia), Hunain Aamir (Pakistan), Mohammad Khairy (Egypt), Li Yinglong (China), Bashar Hussain (Qatar).

B: Mohsen Bukshaisha (Qatar), Shahram Changezi (Pakistan) Chris Hurt (England), Lashaka Parera (Sri Lanka), Khalil Busaif (Bahrain).

C: Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan), Lee Chun Wai (Hong Kong), Varun Kumar (India), Khalid Kamali (UAE), Yousef Alwadi (Saudi Arabia), Abdulla Mujairan (Bahrain).

D: Kamal Chawla (India), Babar Masih (Pakistan), Kok Leong Lim (Malaysia), Sin Man Wan (Hong Kong), Sadiq (Bahrain), S. Parera (Sri Lanka).

E: Mohammad Rais Senzhai (Afghanistan), Sourav Kothari (India), Abdul Raheem (Pakistan), Ali Alobaidli (Qatar), Ahmed Galal (Egypt), Mohamed Mubeen Mansoor (Sri Lanka).

F: Fung Kwok Wai (Hong Kong), Stephan Broadhead (England), Mohammad Majid Ali (Pakistan), Mohammad Omar Ashiq (Bahrain), Pedram Arteshyar (Iran). A. Mohsin Al Abdulrehman (Qatar).

G: Saleh Mohamnmad (Afghanistan), Chi Wai (Hong Kong), Mohammad Bilal (Pakistan), Shahbaz Adil Khan (India), Ahmed Aseri (Zaudi Arabia).

H: Mohammad Shahab (UAE), Manan Chandra (India), Mohammad Asif Toba (Pakistan), Nadir Khan Sultani (Afghanistan), Mohammad (Turkey).

I: Mohammad Saif (Qatar), Mohammad Al Joaker (UAE), Shahid Aftab (Pakistan), Rahul Ajay Sachdev (India), Omer Alajani (Saudi Arabia).

J: Dherminder Lilly (India), Sohail Shehzad (Pakistan), Simon (England), Mahanna Alobaidli (Qatar), Lin Tung Ho (Hong Kong).

K: Yan Bingtao (China), Asjad Iqbal (Pakistan), Chau Hon Man (Hong Kong), Marvan Alfaisal (UAE), Abdullah (Saudi Arabia).

L: Soheil Vahedi (Iran), Shamon Divon (Australia), Khurram Agha (Pakistan), Varun Madan (India), Ahmed (Bahrain).

N: Amir Sarkosh (Iran), Nigel Howe (England), Mohammad Faheem (Pakistan), Faisal Khan (India), Salim Ali (UAE).

P: Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Habib Sabah (Bahrain), Ketan Chawla (India), Hamed Zarehdost (Iran), Mohammad Alshamsi (UAE).

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2015

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