Ten cueists advance to pre quarters

By M. Shamil Amit

The 56th National Snooker Championship which is now in progress at the Billiards and Snooker Association headquarters in Reid Avenue saw ten cueists advance to the pre-quarter finals which is scheduled to get underway today at the same venue.

Ten times national champion Susantha Boteju of YMCA along with S.M. Zulfikar (YMCA), Anil Rohana (Carlton BC), Zuraish Hashim (OAC), Susantha Samarawaickrama (Colts), K.H. Sirisoma (SLPA), Rohitha de Silva (SLPA), Haroon Ahamed (MSC), Prasanna Pushpakumara (YMBA) and M.R.T. Chandana (YMBA) are the players to qualify so far.

Some of the round robin matches were in progress and the remaining six players to qualify for to the pre-quarter final are scheduled to be picked. The pre-quarter finals will be conducted over two days.

The quarter finals are due to be played on March 25 and 26 with the semi finals on March 27 and the final slotted for March 28. Boteju is tipped to take the title for the 11th time while others in the running are: S.H.M. Aslam of MSC, Zuraish Hashim and K.H. Sirisoma.

The disappointment of the championship was the withdrawal of MSC’s M.L.M. Fazal who is the defending champion.