Eight Indians to compete in World Snooker Championship

Bangalore: Eight Indians, including wild card entrants Yasin Merchant and Lalrina Lenthei, will compete in the IBSF World Snooker Championship, to be held here from November 28 to December 3.

While Merchant is a veteran of many a battles, Lenthei is the junior national champion. The tournament, to be held at the Karnataka State Billiards Association, will also feature former champion Pankaj Advani. The other Indians in the fray are Kamal Chawla, I H Manudev, Manan Chandra, Alok Kumar and Anuj Uppal. Lenthei and Merchant, who will be retiring on conclusion of the event, have been included in the Indian contingent in place of Aditya Mehta and Lucky Vatnani both of whom are currently playing on the professional circuit, according to Billiards and Snooker Federation of India secretary S Balasubramaniam who addressed the media on Wednesday. The KSBA will be hosting a World championship after a gap of 24 years, said KSBA president C Uthappa. In all, players from 42 countries are expected to participate in the tournament. PTI