Lakshmi Kothaneth

For the first time the Sultanate is hosting GCC Championship for Billiards and Snookers on December 28th November to December 8, 2019. All the six GCC countries are participating with ten players and Oman being the host, as per the championship rule, can participate with 20 players – Team A and Team B.

the press conference held at Levatio Hotel, the official venue for the championship, the Chairman of the organizing committee of the Championship in Oman (Oman Billiards and Snookers Committee) said the preparations have been completed 80% for the prestigious event. The event organized by OBSC, Ministry of Sports Affairs is being supported by Sohar International and Levatio Hotel by being the Gold sponsors.

“We created a subcommittee to plan out the details for the tournament because we feel this is an important tournament as it is being held in Oman for the first time. Through the subcommittee we have been able to build our team work and it has been very effective,” said Khalid al Subhi, Chairman of OBSC. He explained that the OBSC’s objective is to build the foundation for the future generations. “We want to see more participation and more players coming forward,” he noted.

The Sultanate was invited to host last year but OBSC opted for 2019 as the committee wanted to focus on all details and be ready for the tournament. The Snookers and Billiards committee members had to opportunity to come up with the logos and the final design was chosen as a committee decision. Oman’s Coach Frank Gumbrell said the players have been doing very well during the practice and this is a great opportunity to have the GCC Championship here.

“Omar al Busaidy, Abdullah al Raisi and Qasim al Balushi are all in good form. I am confident the players will perform well,” Coach Frank said. “We have practicing at the camp from 10 am to 4 pm and 11 am to 7 pm. The final selection of the players has been made and it was done so through their daily performance. We have also had competitions,” noted the head coach. When asked how he feels that the tournament is around the corner Coach Frank replied, “I am excited.”

The players who have made it to the final selection to compete in the GCC Championship are:

Mohammed Said al Wahaibi

Sami Saleh al Hamrashdi

Abdullah Ahmed al Raisi

Taha Bashir al Khusaibi

Talal Abdullah al Maskari

Haitham Ali Zabanot

Omar Sultan al Busaidi

Mohammed Moosa al Raisi

Jalal Mohammed al Lawati

Ahmed Bashir al Khusaibi

Sadiq Nadhim al Farsi

Qasim Rashid al Balushi

Yousif al Foori

Fahad Saif al Moqbali

Basam Suhail al Mashani