Hyderabad: Five major Indian cities will be part of the inaugural Indian Cue Masters League that was launched by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India and Sportzlive Entertainment here on Tuesday. It will begin on August 19 with some of the finest players in the world matching skills with the country’s stars.
Called Cue Slam — Indian Cue Masters League, it saw 25 stars picked in the players’ draft earlier in the day, with marquee players being priced at $15,000.
The inaugural season is to be played in Ahmedabad from August 19 to 25 and matches will be broadcast live on Sony ESPN from 6 pm and will involve five teams — Delhi Dons, Chennai Sharks, Gujarat Kings, Bengaluru Buddies and Hyderabad Hustlers.
Cue Slam will be played on a round robin cum knock-out format. Each tie will consist of five matches with three 6 Red snooker and two 9 Ball pool matches per tie. Each franchise will have five players (one icon player, one female player, three men, with a stipulation that a minimum of three Indians in each team).
Star Pankaj Advani expressed his delight at the launch of the league and declared that it would be a huge hit in the country.
“India has many highly talented players but they haven’t had the platform to showcase their skills till now,” he said. “A format like this will excite the fans and I see it becoming a very popular sport very soon.”
BSFI president P.V.K. Mohan was understandably excited too.
Teams: Gujarat Kings (Padmanabh Sports): Andrew Pagett, Daria Sirotina, Alok Kumar, Sourav Kothari, Brijesh Damani. Coach: Ashok Shandilya.
Chennai Strikers (VPVS Sports): Pankaj Advani, Vidya Pillai, Dharminder Lilly, Faisal Khan, Pandu Rangaiah E. Coach: G. Kishore Khurana.
Hyderabad Hustlers (Axis Clinicals): Amir Sarkhosh, Amee Kamani, Kamal Chawla, Lucky Vatnani, Anuj Uppal. Coach: Manoj Kothari.
Bengaluru Buddies: Darren Morgan, Anastasia Nechaeva, Sundeep Gulati, Varun Madan, Laxman Rawat. Coach: Derek Sippy
Delhi Dons: Kelly Fisher, Laura Evans, Pushpender Singh, Manan Chandra, Malkeet Singh. Coach: Tanuj Kohli.
