Sports Desk:

The qualifying round of Asian Snooker Championship has begun. The event kicked off on Wednesday, with an opening match at Banani Club. Organized by Bangladesh Billiards and Snooker Federation (BBSF), this tournament will continue until January 20.

The inauguration ceremony was graced by the presence of Rubel Aziz, President of Banani Club Limited, as the chief guest. Brigadier General (Retd.) Sarker Mohammad Shamsuddin, President of BBSF, also attended the event as special guest. Other notable attendees included BBSF Vice President Aziz Al Masud, General Secretary Riasat Karim Bhuiyan, Billiards and Snooker Member-in-Charge Sifat Ahmed Chowdhury, and Syed Ahsanul Apon, Member-in-Charge of Banani Club Limited.

This year’s Asian Snooker Championship is set to take place in Doha and Qatar. From the qualifiers, the top two players will earn the opportunity to participate in the main event. A total of 32 players are competing in the qualifying round.

As no national tournament was held last year, it was not possible to rank the players. On November 14, a new committee of the Bangladesh Billiards and Snooker Federation (BBSF) was appointed following directives from the Bangladesh Sports Council.

Despite the short timeframe, the committee managed to send two players to the SAARC tournament held earlier this month. Continuing this momentum, the selection process for players for the Asian Championship was initiated. Responding to BBSF’s request, prominent businessman and President of Banani Club, Rubel Aziz, agreed to host the six-day qualifying round.