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21st Asian Snooker at Thailand
Lankan cueists in action today
By M. Shamil Amit reporting from Bangkok
The 21st Asian Snooker Championship will get underway today at the Alexander Hotel in Bangkok Thailand. The opening ceremony is scheduled to be held at 1.00 p.m. (Thailand time) under the patronage of the Minister of Tourism of Thailand, but the tournament proper is due to begin at 10.00 a.m. with six games scheduled for the morning session.

The two Sri Lankan players Susantha Boteju and S.H.M. Aslam along with the manager Joe Coonghe arrived at the venue early on Friday and the two players will be in action today. Both of them are slotted to play in the evening session.The first to take the tables will be Aslam who will meet Sultan Jokar of the United Arab Emirates at 5.00 p.m. Boteju will play at 8.00 p.m. against Zaw Tun of Myanmar.

Sri Lanka's number one Boteju who is participating in his 10th Asian championship speaking to The Sunday Times said that he is in good frame thanks to the encouragement and support given by the new committee headed by Dr. Pani Somaratne. He said “I was unfortunate to lose in the semi finals at the 1995 Asiad championship but I am determined and confident that I would do my best to bring honour to my country’. Aslam who is participating for the third time is also in good spirits and is confident of doing better than last year where he entered the second round.

The tournament is going to be tough for all the 46 players from 21 countries that will be taking part. The 46 players are divided into eight groups with the Lankans Aslam in Group 'A' and Boteju in Group 'C'. Aslam will have to be at his best as he is slotted in a tough group along with the reigning champ. Reigning champ Alok Kumar of India, and another Indian Pankaj Advani former World snooker and the reigning Asian and World billiard champion along with former World Under 21 champion Chan Kwok Ming of Hong Kong, Jing Long and Kai Jiang Song of China and the Thailand's who are fielding five players as the host are the forerunners for the title. Incidentally Kumar defeated Advani in the finals last year.

The first and second round matches will be played over seven frames while the quarterfinals and semi finals will be played over nine frames and the final over 11 frames. The championship that will begin today is scheduled to
come to a close on July 31 with the finals to be played on that day.

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