KARACHI, May 20: Pakistan, which has an enviable track record in the baize game, is among 20 teams from 19 nations which will vie for honours when the 2011 Snooker World Cup, carrying a total purse of $700,000, takes place at Bangkoks World Trade Centre from July 11 to 17.

National champion Shahid Aftab and a former Asian champion Mohammad Sajjad will form the Pakistan team against top professionals and amateurs of the world in the week-long competition.

“It’s an honour for the nation to be part of such a high-profile contest, the richest-ever to be staged in the Asian circuit, where every country has been guaranteed $7,500 as appearance money,” Ali Asghar Valika, Executive Vice President of the Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation (ACBS), told Dawn on Friday.

The break-up of teams envisaged top eight automatic qualified having highest ranked players in the world ranking, two slots given to host country, three wildcards, two based on the results of 2011 European team championship, three based on the results of 2011 Asian championship, winner of 2010 African championship and winner of 2010 Middle East championship.

The 20 teams are: 1-Wales, 2-Scotland, 3-England, 4-China, 5-Australia, 6-Northern Ireland, 7-Hong Kong, 8-Republic of Ireland (automatic qualified); 9-Thailand A, 10-Thailand B (hosts); 11-Germany, 12-Brazil, 13-Belgium (wildcards); 14-Malta, 15-Poland (European team championship); 16-Pakistan, 17-Afghanistan, 18-India (Asian championship); 19 Egypt (African championship); 20-UAE (Middle East championship).

Valika, who is also the Board member of IBSF, said the idea of the event was conceived by the regional body, ACBS, who gave the task to its president Sindhu Pulsirivong to finalise the modalities with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA).

According to the format, 20 competing teams will be equally divided into four groups.

On completion of group matches, top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

The round-robin matches are best of five frames and all must be played while the knockout stages are best of seven frames.

The patron of Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) disclosed that the winning team will fetch $2,000 while the runners-up receive $100,000.

The losing semi-finalists and quarter-finalists earn $60,000 and $30,000 respectively. The organisers have set aside $5,000 for highest break in the group stage and $15,000 for highest break in the knockout stage.

The teams that finish at the bottom in the group take home $7,500 while the team securing fourth and third places in their respective groups pocket $12,500 and $15,000 respectively.