Advani in bottom half of Billiards draw for Doha Asiad

Doha, Nov 26 (UNI) Placed in the bottom half of the draw, World Champion Pankaj Advani will face stiff competition from top seed and last edition's double gold medallist Praput Chaithanasakun of Thailand in the billiards competition of the 15th Asian Games starting December 1 here.

Chaithanasakun is followed by Oo Kyaw U of Myanmar in the seedings for billiards singles. Players from Chinese Taipei and the Philippines dominate the seedings in both the eight-ball and nine-ball pool events.

Meanwhile, Manan Chandra, will spearhead the Indian challenge in the snooker events and will be up against top seed Ding Junhui of China.

A semifinalist at the recent International Billiard and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Championship, Manan faces the biggest challenge in the 19 year-old Ding, who won a gold medal at Busan 2002.

If they meet, it should be one of the highlights of the tournament, where Atthasit Mahitthi of Thailand has been seeded second behind Ding.

The cue events will be played at the Al-Saad Sports Club from December 4 to 11.

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