ISLAMABAD: Around 200 cueists from the Capital will vie for top honors in Islamabad Cup Snooker Championship 2018-19, being held at four different venues of the Capital from Saturday.
“The championship that carries a total prize purse of 2,00,000 will be held in various categories including seniors, masters (40+), under 15, under 17 and under 20,” Secretary-General Islamabad Billiard and Snooker Association (IBSA), M. Faheem Anwar Khan told APP on Friday.
He said the IBSA had selected four clubs to stage the event in a befitting manner. The clubs include City Snooker G-10, Breakers F-11, Saiim Snooker Alipur Firash, and Riley Snooker Blue Area. Mussadiq Malik and Ahmed Naqvi are defending champions in senior and masters’ categories respectively. While Shoaib Usman is reigning champion in under 20 title of the cup and Samran Yasin of under 17 title.
“The championship will be played on knock-out basis and eight players from each venue will make to the final 32 round,” Faheem said. He said the final 32 round of three-week-long activity would be staged at Pakistan Sports Board’s (PSB) Snooker Hall, Sports Complex Islamabad. He said President IBSA, Senator Dr. Shehzad Wasim had directed to give maximum exposure to promising cueists and that was why three categories had been reserved for the juniors.
“It is heartening to note that youngsters in the Capital are taking a keen interest in the game. We are optimistic we will be able to unearth some really talented cueists, who in future will be able to represent the country at the international level,” he added.