Come October 14, a new era in India’s rich cue sports heritage will unfold in New Delhi, which will host the Indian Open — country’s first pro-snooker event over five days.
The Billiards and Snooker Federation of India on Sunday announced the draw for the star-studded event here.
Country’s top cue star Pankaj Advani will spearhead the Indian challenge and will take on world no. 29 Marcus Campell, while Mumbaikar Aditya Mehta, who has been drawn in the same half as Advani, will begin his campaign against 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon.
Speaking about the draw, Bengaluru lad Advani said, “First of all, in most events all the players — from no. 1 to no. 128 — start from the scratch. There are no byes and is generally best of 7 or 9 contest. One mistake and you are out and that gives everybody a chance.”
Admitting that there will be pressure on Mehta and him to deliver in the front of the home crowd, Advani said, “Definitely, there will be pressure... Both of us have got tough games but we will be looking to make the most of the home advantage. We are completely geared up for it.”
On the preparations front, the officials from World Snooker body have already visited the venue, Le Meridien hotel, and expressed satisfaction. A team from the governing body will visit New Delhi again next week for another round of inspection.
Captain P.V. Mohan, BSFI president, while unveiling the draw and schedule of the £300,000 tournament said there was a lot of buzz about the event in the cue sports fraternity across the world.
“I just returned from the World 6-red Snooker Championship in Bangkok and there was a great buzz around the event. People have expressed their desire to travel to India for this event. We’ve also got good response from the sponsors.”
Their draws are as following: Manan Chandra vs Jeff Cundy; Kamal Chawla vs Rod Lawler; Sandeeep Gulati vs Liam High Field; Shivam Arora vs Robbie Williams; Faisal Khan vs Antony Mcgill; Dharmender Lilly vs Paul S.Davison.