Sports

All arrangements have been finalized to hold the 22nd Asian Snooker Championships due to get underway from June 30 at the Pegasus Reef Hotel in Hendala, Wattala. The championship conducted by the Sri Lanka Billiards and Snooker Association of Sri Lanka (SASL) with the blessings of the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) the controlling body in Asia, which was originally scheduled to be held at the BMICH was shifted due to the present venue as the expected sponsorship did not materialize.Nineteen countries comprising of 42 players from the membership of 33 countries will participate in this mega event which is held every year. This will be the fourth international event that the BSASL will be holding and is the third Asian tournament. The three other events to be conducted were the third and fifth Asian Snooker Championship in 1986 and 1988 and the World Billiards Championships in 1990.

The tournament director of the championship Capt Sarath de Alwis said “we are leaving no stone unturned in our effort to make this championship a successful one. Ten new billiards tables have already arrived for the championship from which we will be using six for playing and two for practices for the players that will be participating”. He further stated that matches will be played over four sessions starting from 10. 00 a.m. each day.

He also said Sri Lankan players are in line to receiving handsome cash awards as any of them who reach the quarterfinals or semi finals will receive a cash award of Rs. 100,000/- and Rs. 250,000/- respectively. This was to encourage and support the players to become top players and reach great heights like M.J.M. Lafir who brought the world title to Sri Lanka in 1973.

The final 42 players who have confirmed their participation have been divided into eight groups which comprise six groups with five players and two groups with six players. They will play each other on a round robin basis and a total of 90 matches are due to be played in this stage. After the completion of the round robins 16 players will advance to the knockout stage.

The championship will begin on June 30 with the opening ceremony scheduled at 9.30 a.m. with Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake gracing the occasion as the chief guest. The finals are scheduled to be played on June 6. China’s Jin Long emerged as the champion when the championship was held in Thailand last year.

He is the top seed but will face stiff opposition from bottom seeded and former World Billiards and Snooker champion Pankaj Advani of India. Finance and Guarantee Group is the main sponsor of this prestigious event.