Unattractive prize money at national-level snooker event. KARACHI: The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), despite the sponsorship support from the private sector, has remained unsuccessful in enhancing the prize money of the national ranking tournaments. Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President PBSA, admitted that the total purse of Rs150,000 for the fourth and final national event of the year, the 4th Ranking Snooker Cup 2013 starting here at the Karachi Sheraton Hotel on Tuesday (today), was a modest one. Speaking at a media briefing here at the Karachi Gymkhana Banquet Hall on Monday, he agreed that the prize money on offer in this tournament was very low. “But we have managed to fulfill our commitment of organising all the events that had been announced at the start of the year,” the PBSA President said. It may be recalled that in the past the fourth and final national ranking event used to offer the highest prize money of the season. The winner used to receive as much as Rs100,000. The reigning world champion Mohammad Asif, already a millionaire after annexing the amateur crown last year, will return to defend his Ranking Cup title for a purse of Rs70,000. The runner-up will be getting Rs40,000. Both losing semi-finalists will be receiving Rs15,000 each and the highest break award will fetch Rs10,000. The 18 participating cueists have been divided in two groups with all of them being provided an opportunity of playing eight league matches before the start of the knockout stage, beginning directly with semi-finals. Top seed Shahid Aftab heads the Group A, also featuring Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Asif, Farhan Noor, Aamir Tariq, Sharjeel Mahmood, Babar Masih, Mohammad Yousuf and Mohsin Amin. The Group B comprises second seed Imran Shahzad, Abdul Sattar, Asjad Iqbal, Hamza Akbar, Abu Saim, Khurram Hussain Agha, Mohammad Bilal, Sultan Mohammad and Mohammad Majid Ali. The PBSA had a practice of limiting the fourth and final tournament to the top 16 cueists of the country but they have decided to give another run to the top junior cueists, Mohsin Amin and Majid Ali. The best-of-seven-frame league matches, starting on Tuesday, will continue until Friday. Both the semi-finals will be contested on Saturday to be followed by the best-of-15-frame final on Sunday. The knockout games will be broadcast live on Geo Super. The PBSA has not decided yet if the top 16 cueists of the national ranking chart will be given a direct entry in the next year’s National Championship or the number will be reduced to eight in an effort to accommodate more newcomers from the four provincial cup events that serve as the qualifiers for the Nationals. The final decision in this regard will be taken by the PBSA Executive Committee.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 06:57:33 +0000
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