Busy calendar unveiled for Pakistani cueists.

Byline: Anwar Zuberi

KARACHI -- Pakistan snooker circuit for 2020 begins with the hosting of three juniors and master's championships at the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Sports Complex in Islamabad on Saturday.

The details of the annual calendar were announced by Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) at a press conference held at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday. Chaired by Hassan Khan, managing director of Jubilee Insurance, the briefing was attended by the president of PBSF Munawwar Shaikh and former president Alamgir Shaikh.

According to details, the back to back events that will be held from Jan 4-23 include second National U-16, fifth National U-18, 12th National U-21 and fourth National Master's (40+).

The prize money of the three junior events is Rs 130,000 apiece while Rs 100,000 will be at offer in the master's.

These events will be followed by the 45th National Snooker Championship which takes place at Karachi Gymkhana from Jan 31 to Feb 12.

Year 2020 commences with juniors and a master's events

It carries a total purse of Rs 272,000 with winner getting Rs 100,000 and runner-upRs 50,000.

Top 12 cueists of the last year's third national ranking championship have been directly placed into the country's premier snooker event. They are 1-Mohammad Asif, 2-Mohammad Bilal, 3-Asjad Iqbal, 4-Mohammad Sajjad, 5-Sohail Shahzad, 6-Mohammad Ijaz, 7-Babar Masih, 8-Mohammad Naseem Akhtar, 9-Mubashir Raza, 10-Zulfiqar A. Qadir, 11-Abdul Sattar, 12-Haris Tahir.

They will be joined by qualifiers from the four provinces and Islamabad, two wildcards and eight juniors that make the number of participants 61.

Speaking on the occasion Hassan Khan who has succeeded Tahir Ahmed at the helm of...