Carombole nationals champs to represent India in Asian Indoor Games

New Delhi, July 21 (UNI) Top cueists of the country including defending champion Dharminder Lilly, Rafath Habib and Dhruv Sitwala have confirmed their participation in the inaugural one-cushion national carombole championship to be held here from July 26 to 30.

The national championship is being organised to pick the two-member Indian team for the Third Asian Indoor Games to be held in Macau, China from October 27 to November 3.

However, the Indian team for billiards, snooker and pool, will be picked up after a selection tournament in Bangalore next month. Prominent cueists including Pankaj Advani, Geet Sethi, Yasin Merchant, Alok Kumar and Manan Chandra, would be vying for berths in either billiards, snooker or pool.

Lilly, who reached the final of the Guiness Asian 9-ball pool Tour recently in Kuala Lumpur, will also concentrate in pool as he has been riding the luck since his maiden Asian Tour final.

He will participate in the next event of the Tour in Shanghai, China, from August 3 to 5.

Having gone through a lean patch, the Busan Asian Games gold medalist in snooker doubles Rafath Habib will try to make his comeback into the green baize through carombole.

Meanwhile, Billiards exponent Dhruv Sitwala, who is currently in London playing in the World Professional billiards championship to be concluded in July 23, has confirmed his entry in the national tournament from there.

UNI