The Hindu : Asian championship in jeopardy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Billiards & Snooker

Asian championship in jeopardy

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI MARCH 31. Iraq war and the mystery virus sweeping South-East Asia has choked the life out of Asian snooker championship, scheduled to be held in Kolkata from April 17 to 26.

"With more than a dozen countries showing little interest in participating in the event at this juncture, the championship, in all probability, would be postponed indefinitely," said Ravi K. Tandon, vice-president of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI).

With the Iraq war on, Qatar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have expressed their inability to send teams for the Kolkata meet.

Also, Hong Kong, China, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia have been a bit edgy about travelling after pneumonia-like disease named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is spreading across the region.

"Although all these countries have confirmed their entries, under the circumstances we have asked the Asian Council of Billiard Sport (ACBS) to take a firm decision," Mr. Tandon said.

"The BSFI will wait for one more day and if all these countries are not participating it would be better to find new dates rather than having a low-quality championship," he added.

Pakistan was the first casualty as the Indian High Commission in Islamabad refused to issue visas to its players.

Already, the under-21 Asian snooker championship, scheduled to be held in Shenzheng, China, from April 1 to 6, has been cancelled. The new dates for the championship will be announced at a later date, the ACBS Secretary General, Syed Mehboob, said in a communication to the BSFI.

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