India pulls out of Asian Snooker in Pakistan

Karachi: India has pulled out its team from the Asian Amateur Snooker Championship that begins here on Saturday.

Alamgir Sheikh, the President of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association, told a press conference that India had expressed its inability to send its team as it had not been able to get clearance from its government. "India has pulled out apparently for security reasons. It is a big setback for us because Indian cueists have been regular visitors to Karachi for our snooker events," he said. India was to send two cueists for the Asian event which will now be contested by 15 countries. A total of 38 cueists are vying for the title. Sheikh said teams from Afghanistan, Mangolia, Thailand and Sri Lanka have reached Karachi while the remaining would reached here by Saturday. India had also pulled out of a bilateral hockey test series with Pakistan in March due to security concerns. PTI