14th Edition of PYC-ATC SNOOKER CHALLENGE from 27th February

Pune, February 25, 2023: Top Snooker players in the country, Laxman Rawat, Dhvaj Haria, Devendra Joshi, Manan Chandra, Shahbaz Khan, S Krishna, Alok Kumar, Digvijay Kadian, Kreish Gurbaxani, Shivam Arora, Shoaib Khan, Rahul Sachdev are among 250 players who will represent 30 teams at The 14th Edition of PYC-ATC Snooker Challenge 2023 which will be organized by PYC Hindu Gymkhana from 27th February to 6th March 2023.

The event which has been sponsored by ATC Global Logistics Pvt Ltd and Associated Container Line Pvt Ltd, will offer Total Prize money of Rs 4,05,000/- and has attracted outstation teams from Chennai, MP, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Thane, Vashi, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Satara etc. Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, MD of ATC, Mr. Ashutosh Sathe, Director of ACL, Mr. Kumar Tamhane, Hon. President and Mr. Sarang Lagu, Hon. Sec of PYC Hindu Gymkhana informed that this event will be held under the auspices of the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra (BSAM).

Mr. Lagu further added that the sponsorship commitment by the ATC Global Logistics Pvt Ltd and Associated Container Line Pvt Ltd for the last 13 years has been instrumental in popularizing cue sports in the city. We are glad that the event was being held at the club with great success over the last 13 years he added.

Mr. Kumar Tamhane, informed that he was thrilled with the growth of this event and cue sport which had gone up from just 18 teams in the first year to 30 teams now. City’s top seeded player Rajwardhan Joshi, Yogesh Lohiya, Vijay Nichani and Aditya Deshpande of PYC, Taha Khan will be seen in action during this event.

Mr. Salil Deshpande, Tournament Director added that 30 teams have been divided into 8 groups. Two teams from each group will qualify for the knock out rounds. The initial league stage of the tournament will be played PYC Hindu Gymkhana tables. Three players from each team will simultaneously play the opponent team. The league stage of the matches to the semifinals will be played over best of 5 frames.

Some prominent teams like BPCL Engineers, The Boys, Corner Pocket Shooters, PYC Giants, Corner Pocket Lions, Corner Pocket A, Dragon Ball, Deccan Tigers, Green Baize Club, Poona Club, MIG Strikers are taking part. Rajiv Khandke, Crazol D’silva and Rohan Sakalkar will be Chief Referee for this event.

The Winning Team will receive Trophy and Rs.1,50,000 Cash prize, Runner-Up Team will receive Trophy and Rs.80,000 Cash prize, while Semifinalist Team will get Rs.40,000 Cash prize & Trophy while the Quarter-Finalist team will get Rs 20,000 each Cash prize & Trophy. Cash prizes worth Rs.10, 000/- for highest break in 15red and Rs.5,000/- for highest break in 6red will also be given during the event, Mr. Deshpande added.

An organizing committee comprising Ashok Shetty, Salil Deshpande, Arun Barve, Rajwardhan Joshi, Aditya Deshpande, Kapil Khare has been formed for the event.