Imran to defend title as National Masters Snooker begins today

KARACHI: Imran Shahzad of Punjab will defending his title in the Jubilee Insurance 2nd National Masters (Over-40) Snooker Championship 2018 which gets underway in Lahore on Saturday (today).

According to the details made available by Naved Kapadia, Tournament Director, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), the 32 participating cueists from all over the country have been divided in eight groups.

The Group A comprises Shahzad Butt (Pjb), Saeed Ahmed (Bal), Zafar Iqbal (KP) and Mukhtar Khan (Sindh).

The Group B features the defending champion Imran Shahzad (Pjb), Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh), Saeed-ur-Rahman (KP) and Noor Hussain (Bal).

Noman Awan (KP), Manzoor Ahmed (Bal), Shahid Shahiq (Pjb) and Faisal Ragatia (Sindh) constitute the Group C.

The Group D has Saeed Bangulzai (Bal), Maisam Hasnain (Sindh), Amanullah (KP) and Muhammad Shahid (Pjb).

Ahmed Naqvi (Ibd), Qadeer Butt (Pjb), Shadab Baig (Sindh) and Muhammad Nadeem (Pjb) form the Group E.

The Group F consists of Naveen Kumar Perwani (Sindh), Irfan Karim (KPK), Haji Saqib (Bal) and Khwaja Rizwan (Pjb).

The Group G is made up of Fawad Hussain (Pjb), Arshad Ali Qureshi (Ibd), Muhammad Yousuf (Sindh) and Rashid Mahmood (KP).

The Group H comprises Mujtahid Ali Shah (KP), Muhammad Yousuf Jr (Bal), Atif Baig (Pjb) and Sunny Shahani (Sindh).

At the end of the league matches, the top two cueists from each group will advance to the knockout phase starting with pre-quarter-finals.The winner of the event will receive a cash award of Rs50,000. The runner-up will get Rs25,000. The losing semi-finalists will be having Rs10,000.

The highest break of the competition will earn a reward of Rs 5,000.There will be added incentive for the winner of the competition as he will be sent by the PBSA to represent the country in the World Masters Championship 2018 later this year, subject to the availability of funds.