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.

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 equally in eight groups for the preliminary rounds.

The Group A comprises of Shahzad Butt (Pjb), Saeed Ahmed (Bal), Zafar Iqbal (KPK) and Mukhtar Khan (Sindh) while 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 while the Group D has the presence of Saeed Bangulzai (Bal), Maisam Hasnain (Sindh), Amanullah (KPK) and Muhammad Shahid (Pjb).

The quartet of Ahmed Naqvi (Ibd), Qadeer Butt (Pjb), Shadab Baig (Sindh) and Muhammad Nadeem (Pjb) form the Group E while the Group F contains Naveen Kumar Perwani (Sindh), Irfan Karim (KPK), Haji Saqib (Bal) and Khwaja Rizwan (Pjb).

The Group G was made up of Fawad Hussain (Pjb), Arshad Ali Qureshi (Ibd), Muhammad Yousuf (Sindh) and Rashid Mahmood (KPK) while the Group H was occupied by Mujtahid Ali Shah (KPK), Muhammad Yousuf Jr (Bal), Muhammad Atif Baig (Pjb) and Sunny Shahani (Sindh).

At the end of the league matches the top two cueists from each of the eight group will be advancing to the knockout phase starting with pre-quarter-finals. The winner of the event will be receiving a cash award of Rs 50,000 while the runner-up will be getting a purse of Rs 25,000. The losing semifinalists will also be having Rs 10,000 each while 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.