Inaugural National meet from tomorrow

BANGALORE, MARCH 5: Pool could well be termed as the Americanised version of snooker. Introduced as part of the green baize game at the Bangkok Asian Games, it proved an instant success among Indians, who fared reasonably well.

And with the popularity of the sport picking up in spurts, with Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore as the main centres, the onus of conducting the first National pool championship has fallen on the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA), under the auspices of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI). The inaugural event will be held at the KSBA hall from March 7 to 9.

Ninety-six players from 19 States have confirmed their entries for the championship. Six players in 16 groups will play on a round robin basis with the top two qualifying for the knock- out phase from each pool. Prominent snooker players who participated in the snooker and billiards Nationals at Chennai over the last week-end will take part in the three-day tourney. However some of the big names like Yasin Merchant, the National snooker champion and runner-up Alok Kumar along with Rupesh Shah, Ashok Shandilya and Dharmender Lily have all given the championship a skip, for various reasons

Pool, a nine ball game of varied colours and numbered balls, will be played on tables imported from Singapore, for the nationals. The format for the championship is: Initial rounds on round robin basis (best of seven racks); round of 32-best of nine racks; round of 16-best of 11 racks; round of eight - best of 13 racks; round of four-best of 15 racks; semifinals - best of 17 racks and final will be - best of 21 racks.

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Section  : Sport
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