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SARS prompts India to skip nine-ball pool circuit championship
Kolkata, Jun 02: Unnerved by the SARS scare and peeved with the `confusing` signals from organisers, India have pulled out of the APBU-ESPN nine-ball pool circuit championship in Manila.
Kolkata, Jun 02: Unnerved by the SARS scare and peeved with the 'confusing' signals from organisers, India have pulled out of the APBU-ESPN nine-ball pool circuit championship in Manila.
The tournament began on May 31, Billiards and Snooker Federation of India president P N Roy said here.
"We were planning to send a team. But the organisers started giving confusing directives. First they sent a circular that the players will have to get doctors' certificate. Later they said the players needed to procure a SARS-free certificate after landing in Phillipines," Roy said.
He said even the arrival arrangements for the teams seemed 'confusing'. "Various circulars mentioned different places where the players would land and stay."
On top of this, Roy said, with the SARS epidemic still raging in the South East Asian region, it would have been highly risky for the Indian players.
"This tournament is not that important. Such tournaments are being held in Asia every fortnight. So we weighed the pros and cons and decided not to send the team as any untoward development there would have created a major furore in India," he said.
Roy replied in the negative when asked whether the BSFI had selected the team for the meet.
Bureau Report
"We were planning to send a team. But the organisers started giving confusing directives. First they sent a circular that the players will have to get doctors' certificate. Later they said the players needed to procure a SARS-free certificate after landing in Phillipines," Roy said.
He said even the arrival arrangements for the teams seemed 'confusing'. "Various circulars mentioned different places where the players would land and stay."
On top of this, Roy said, with the SARS epidemic still raging in the South East Asian region, it would have been highly risky for the Indian players.
"This tournament is not that important. Such tournaments are being held in Asia every fortnight. So we weighed the pros and cons and decided not to send the team as any untoward development there would have created a major furore in India," he said.
Roy replied in the negative when asked whether the BSFI had selected the team for the meet.
Bureau Report