Fijian reps get invitations

LOCAL-based players will get a chance to rub shoulders with some of the best players during the World Snooker Federation Championships (WSFC) in Australia from next January 31 to February 11.

Billiards and Snooker Association of Fiji president Praneel Singh said this was the biggest tournament which was open to Fijian players.

“We will ask the Fijian Government to help Team Fiji participate,” he said.

“The tournament will attract world class players. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for our players to rub shoulders with some of the best.

“This tournament is on the same par as the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Championship.

IBSF is hosting tournaments in Qatar, Turkey, Malaysia and Romania which are too far for our players to travel.

“The event will include an open championship and a junior championship with each tournament carrying a World Snooker Tour card for its winner.”

Singh said before they used to get only one chance in a year to play in the Asia Pacific Snooker Championship (APSC) to fight to get on the World Tour.

“Now we have three qualifying tournaments, which is the WSFC, the APSC and another tournament in Thailand.

“We want to tell the players that if they want to achieve something in the sport, then they have to sacrifice.

“It is not only about taking time out for training, but also forking out money to travel overseas for tournaments. Snooker is an expensive sport.”

The WSFC will be held at the Mt Pritchard District and Community Club, known as “Mounties” in the western suburbs of Sydney.