JOIN USAdvani’s place in the draw has been taken by his Petroleum Sports Promotion Board team-mate Saurav Kothari.
Bangalore lad Advani, only the second cueist in the world after Paul Mifsud of Malta to capture the IBSF World snooker as well as billiards crowns, has decided not to travel to Thailand “due to personal reasons”, it was learned on Wednesday.
In his absence Kothari, who lost to Advani in the final of the snooker nationals in Agra, and former two-time continental champion Yasin Merchant would represent the country in the eight-day tournament at Thai city Chanthaburi.
Kothari has been placed in Group ‘A’ with Au Chi Wai (Hong Kong), Basem Aboud (Syria), Mohd Al Joaker (UAE) and Nhat Thanh Nguyen (Vietnam). Merchant is in Group ‘H’ with Nader Khan Sultani (Afghanistan), Wu Yu Lun (Taipei), Sergelen Batdelgar (Mongolia) and Yuttapop Pakpoj (Thailand).
A total of 42 cueists have entered the tournament and pooled in eight groups with the top two in each cluster advancing to the knock-out pre-quarterfinals.