By IANS
New Delhi : The world junior snooker championship to be held in Goa this year has been dedicated to the memory of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) announced Saturday.
The championship opens at the Bogmallo Beach Resort Aug 21, a day after Gandhi’s 63rd birth anniversary.
“We have decided to dedicate the championship in Rajiv Gandhi’s memory as he was instrumental in popularising the green baize sport in India when he inaugurated the World Billiards Championship in New Delhi in 1985 that was telecast live by Doordarshan,” P.V.K. Mohan, president of BSFI, said in a statement.
Cueists from over 30 countries will take part in the event titled Bascon-Manisha World Under-21 Snooker Championship and the final will be held Aug 31. This is the third time India is hosting the world meet. Bangalore has played host twice in the past.
Even though the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) had taken a far-reaching decision of allowing men and women cueists to compete on the same table for the world junior title, the BSFI has forced the world body to have separate championships for both men and women this time.
“We realised that the women were too weak as against the men cueists and would eventually end up lower down in the pool,” said Mohan.
Therefore the BSFI decided to set aside $2,000 for the women’s championship that will be held concurrently with the men’s meet. The men will compete for $10,000 prize money.
England, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Latvia, Thailand, China, Egypt, Iran and Singapore are among those who have confirmed entries for the championship.
Women from New Zealand, Iran, China, France and host India will compete for the title.