Top-notch field for Otters pool fiesta

The likes of Tamil Nadu-based India No. 1 Rafat Habib of Railways,Manan Chandra of PSPB,Aditya Mehta of Mumbai,Alok Kumar,Dharmendra Lilly,twice Asian snooker champion Yasin Merchant,Devendra Joshi,Ashok Shandilya and Atlas 9-Ball winner Faisal Khan are among the top cueists in the fray.

The elite 16 will be joined by eight select few from Otters Club and eight other qualifiers from a preliminary qualifying tournament that will be held from March 23 to 29. The main draw will be held from March 30 to April 5.

The stage is set for one of the biggest sporting extravaganzas,with a whopping Rs. 1.5 lakh at stake for the winner. The runner-up will receive Rs. 75,000 while the semi-finalists will receive Rs. 50,000 each. In addition,the quarter-finalists will earn Rs. 35,000 while the pre-quarter-finalists will receive Rs. 20,000.

Never before in the history of 9-Ball pool in India have cueists been offered a prize structure where even those who do not make it to the pre-quarter final stage,still earn Rs. 10,000.

The famous glass back squash court at the Otters Club will be used to provide a grand arena for the event for the later stages of the tournament,where a top-of-the-range international standard pool table will be erected to allow India’s renowned cueists to showcase their skills.