KARACHI: Pakistan will field a maximum of eight cueists in the 29th Asian Snooker Championship being held at hotel Sheraton from April 27 to May 3, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) announced on Friday.

The eight includes world amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif and top seven of the latest national rankings namely Hamza Akbar, Imran Shehzad, Mohammad Sajjad, Abdul Sattar, Babar Masih, Shahid Aftab and Abu Saim.

A fortnight camp will be set up either in Islamabad or Karachi from April 10, PBSF president Alamgir Shaikh, told Dawn.

He said camp commandant will be announced later.

Meanwhile, brisk preparations were afoot to stage the spectacle in a befitting manner.

The details of the proposed spectacle were discussed at length in the executive committee meeting of the PBSF which met in its office on Friday.

As many as 12 nations have so far confirmed their participation while confirmation from a couple of other countries were awaited, the PBSF president informed the participants while reviewing the arrangements.

According to him, the nations which have confirmed their participation include India, Afghanistan, Iran, Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Qatar, Mangolia, Syria, Kuwait and Sri Lanka besides the hosts.

The official said he was looking forward for the entries from Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Thailand, UAE and Bahrain among other nations.

It may be mentioned, that the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) has strength of 35 member nations.Though the submission of entries closes on Monday, but according to organisers, there will be flexibility of about a week for the nations to submit the names of their players.

“It will be under one roof as the players and officials will be housed in championship hotel,” remarked Alamgir while responding to a query about security arrangements.

He added: “We’ll extend fool proof security to all our guests during the weeklong event”.

The official said a consignment of 12 brand new Shender tables have been shipped from China and likely to reach Karachi port by April 7.

The meeting was attended among others by patron of the PBSF Asghar Valika, Abdul Wahid Qadir, Abdul Rashid Lehra, Shabbir Hussain Daruwala and Arif Tahirbhai.