National Snooker from tomorrow

KARACHI: A record number of 56 cueists from all over the country will be participating in the Jubilee Insurance 44th National Snooker Championship 2019 to be staged here at the Karachi Gymkhana from March 20 to 30.

The details about the 11-day event, which was originally scheduled to be held last month, were unveiled in a media briefing by Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA), Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, and Fawad Malik, President, Karachi Gymkhana, on Monday. It was disclosed that the participants will be divided equally in eight groups for the preliminary rounds at the end of which the top two cueists from each group will be advancing to the knockout phase, starting from pre-quarter-finals. Both the semifinals as well as the final are due to be telecast live by Geo Super.

The total prize money will be Rs 272,000 with the winner to take home Rs one lac and the runner-up to collect Rs 50,000. The losing semifinalists will be receiving Rs 20,000 each, the losing quarter-finalists will be getting Rs 10,000 each while the losing pre-quarter-finalists will be compensated with Rs 4,000 each. The highest break of the competition will earn a purse of Rs 10,000. The PBSA will be paying handsome TA/DA to the outstation participants and the local cueists will also be given daily conveyance allowance. The championship is likely to cost the organizers a staggering sum of Rupees three million.

Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee Insurance, threw light on the decade-long association of his company with the PBSA, recalling that Pakistan’s cueists have done wonders in this period, having brought home the world title as well as the junior world crown besides the world team gold medal. He described snooker as the most popular game among the youth, after cricket.

Acknowledging the consistent sponsorship support from Jubilee Insurance over the past 11 years, Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, Co-Chairman, PBSA, spoke about the financial constraints being faced by the body due to non-release of funds by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, President, PBSA, revealed that wild card entries have been awarded to youngsters, Mubashir Raza and Muhammad Shahbaz, while the champions of the National Under-16, Under-18 and Under-21 competitions have also been granted entry into the Nationals. Fawad Malik, President, Karachi Gymkhana, himself a keen cueist, vowed to continue supporting the cause of cue sports from the club’s platform in future as well.