Pakistan No 2 Mohammad Asif has been placed in Group 'C', Mohammad Sajjad on the other hand, is drawn in group 'K'. — Photo by AFP

KARACHI Hosts India has fielded 14 cueists including celebrities like former world champion Pankaj Advani and an ex-Asian champion Yasin Merchant in the IBSF World Snooker Championship which runs in Hyderabad Deccan from Nov 15-25.

According to the groups made available here, all but two groups have presence of an Indian who look destined to thwart the opposition.

The 96 players from across the world have been equally drawn into 16 equal groups. Top four from each group will cross the first hurdle and advance into top 64.

Meanwhile, the reigning national champion and Pakistan No 2 Mohammad Asif has been placed in Group 'C' which include Steve Mifsud (Australia), Ahmed Aly (USA), Yasin Merchant (India), Ammar Taqi (Kuwait), and Mario Fernandez (Ireland).Asif, 27, made his international debut by featuring in the 25th Asian Snooker championship in Chinese city of Tangshan earlier this year. This will be his maiden world championship.

Sajjad, on the other hand, is drawn in group 'K' which among others include former Pakistan national as well as junior champion Farhan Mirza who has migrated to Sweden. Other players in the group are Lai Chee Wei (Malaysia), Girish (India), Mario Van Herk (Belgium) and Juha Erkinmikko (Finland).

Groups
'A' Pankaj Advani (India), Nezar Abdullah Aseeri (Saudi Arabia), Ali Obaidly (Qatar), Phillip Williams (Wales), Moosa Saleem (Mauritius), Daniel Thorp (Australia).

'B' Mark Hannah (New Zealand), Supoj Saenla (Thailand), Habib Sabah Habib (Bahrain), Mohamed Awad(Egypt), Shahbaaz Khan (India), Pierre Jordaan (South Africa)

'C' Steve Mifsud (Australia), Ahmed Aly (USA), Yasin Merchant (India), Ammar Taqi (Kuwait), Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Mario Fernandez (Ireland).

'D' Manan Chandra (India), Faaris Kahn (South Africa), James Mifsud (Australia), Alexander Gauss(Austria), Khaled Belaid Mohamed (Libya), Alex Borg (Malta).

'E' Leonard Shanahan (Ireland), Ahmed Saif (Qatar), Anthony McGill (Scotland), Brijesh Damani (India), Andreas Ploner (Austria), Igor Figueiredo (Brazil).

'F'Ahmed Abdullah Aseeri (Saudi Arabia), Greg Casey (Ireland), I. H. Manudev (India), Hesham Abdel Salam (Egypt), Fung Kwok Wai (China Hong Kong), Nader Khan Sultani (Afghanistan).

'G' Susantha Welathanthrige (Sri Lanka), David Craggs (England), Omar
Alkojah (Syria), Mohamed Al Joaker (UAE), Sourav Kothari (India), Salah Amer Elsagezli (Libya).

'H' Soheil Vahedi (Iran), Ang Boon Chin (Singapore), Lucky Vatnani (India), Sascha Lippe (Germany), Mohammed Omar Ashiq (Bahrain), Vyacheslav Sorokin (Russia).

'J' Anas Almarzouki (Syria), Alain Vanderstein (Belgium), Mekdad Murad Taqi (Kuwait), Alok Kumar (India), Ryan Somaratna (Sri Lanka), Chan Ka Kin (China Hong Kong).

'K' Mohammad Sajjad (Pakistan), Lai Chee Wei (Malaysia), Girish (India), Mario Van Herk(Belgium), Juha Erkinmikko (Finland), Farhan Mirza (Sweden).

'L' Eriks Malderis (Canada), Tian Pengfei (China), Bernard Bellestra (France), Rupesh Shah (India), Alfie Burden (England), Chih-Hua Huang (Chinese Taipei).

'M' Lim Chun Kiat (Singapore), Joeri Reisig (Netherlands), Bobby Cruickshanks (Scotland), Dhruv Sitwala (India), Duncan Bezzina (Malta), Yu Delu (China).

'N' Jean-Pierre Auzias (France), Maurice le Duc (Netherlands), Anthony Brabin (Cyprus), Takao Kurimoto (Japan), Gavin Pantall (Wales), Amir Sarkhosh (Iran).

'P' Patrick Einsle (Germany), Thor Chuan Leong (Malaysia), George Louca (Cyprus), Aditya Mehta (India), Pascal Camenzind (Switzerland), Yu Lun Wu (Chinese Taipei).

'Q' Takafumi Maeda (Japan), Mohamed Shehab (UAE), Najibullah Akbari (Afghanistan), Suleman Salam (Sweden), Kamal Chawla (India), Ajeya Prabhakar (USA).

'R' Yuttapop Pakpoj (Thailand), Lin Tang Ho (China Hong Kong), Wael Talaat (Egypt), Emir Yigit (Turkey), Chris Maltby (New Zealand), Thomas Fischer (Switzerland).