Pankaj Advani to lead for Peace Cup

World amateur snooker champion Pankaj Advani will lead the Indian challenge against Pakistan in the Rexello Castors Indo-Pak Peace Cup, to be held in Chandigarh from June 17-20.

Advani, former Asian champion Yasin Merchant and national champion Alok Kumar will be joined by two others, to be decided at the selection committee meeting in Kolkata on May 15, Billiards and Snooker Federation vice-president R K Tandon told reporters in Delhi on Friday.

Tandon said the three players are the best in the country and selected themselves for the bilateral series while the remaining two spots would be decided on the basis of the players' performances at the recently-held national selection tournament in Bangalore.

India had visited Pakistan in December last year for the inaugural Peace Cup, which the hosts won.

The Rs. 300,000 prize-money tournament would be played in a team championship format, which includes singles and doubles matches.

Pakistan has already named its five-member squad for the championship. Saleh Mohammed, who lost to Advani in the final of the World championship last year at Beijing, will lead the Pakistani side.

The other members of the squad are Khurram Hussain Agha, Imran Shehzad, Mohammad Yousuf and Naveen Kumar Perwani.