Snooker body to focus on youth tournaments in 2016

KARACHI: Prompted by the phenomenal success of youngsters at the international level in the recent past, the snooker authorities have decided to focus on promoting youth tournaments in 2016.

The Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) will be holding a couple of national tournaments exclusively for youngsters in 2016. The details were shared with the media at a hotel here on Tuesday.

PBSA president Alamgir Anwar Shaikh announced that the first ever National Junior Under-18 Championship would be staged in Lahore from January 6 to 11 and the eighth edition of the National Junior Under-21 Championship in Karachi from January 26 to February 3.

The prize money of both tournaments will be Rs130,000 each with the winner to receive a handsome purse of Rs50,000 and the runner-up to collect Rs25,000.

It was revealed that 32 cueists in Under-18 and 40 participants in Under-21 will be divided in eight groups for the preliminary rounds.

The PBSA has also facilitated career openings and international exposure for the top performers. “The finalists of both events will be flying to Belgium later for the World Championships of their age groups,” disclosed Alamgir. “They will also be drafted in the mainstream circuit which will enable them to play alongside the leading cueists of the country,” he added.

“The idea is to engage young players in competitive snooker from an early age and help them polish their skills,” the president said.  Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director Jubilee General Insurance Limited, welcomed the initiatives of the PBSA, urging them to introduce a tournament at the Under-15 level.