Snooker events to be held in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi

KARACHI: In an attempt to spread the game across the country, the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) has decided to hold the national snooker events in different cities.

PBSA president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh announced here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday that both the national junior tournaments would be taking place in Islamabad and they would be followed by the National Masters in Lahore and the Nationals in Karachi.

According to the details shared in the media briefing, the Jubilee Insurance Under-18 Championship and the Jubilee Insurance Under-21 Championship will be staged at Islamabad’s PSB Sports Complex from January 5 to 19.

The Jubilee Insurance National Masters Championship will be organised in Lahore from January 27 to February 2. Karachi will play host to the Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship 2018 from February 10 to 21.

The Under-18 Championship, to be contested by 33 cueists, and the Under-21 Championship, featuring 34 cueists, offer Rs50,000 to the winners and Rs25,000 to the runners-up. The losing semi-finalists and the losing quarter-finalists of both the competitions will be getting Rs15,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively.

The winner of the under-18 event will qualify to represent Pakistan in the IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship to be held in China. The winner of the under-21 tournament will represent the country in the ACBS Asian Under-21 Championship to be staged in Myanmar as well as in the IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship in China.

Speaking on the occasion, Usman Qaiser, Head of Marketing, Jubilee Life Insurance, vowed to continue supporting snooker. Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, expressed his delight at the re-launch of the junior competitions, which have helped promoting the sport at the grassroots level.

PBSA’s co-chairman Alamgir Anwar Shaikh desired greater support from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in order to fulfill their bigger plans.In the question-answer session, it was revealed that the PBSA, upon the recommendation of the Sindh Billiards & Snooker Association (SBSA), has accepted the apology of the cueists from Sindh who skipped last year’s National Under-21 Championship in controversial circumstances. They have been allowed to appear in the coming event.