HANIF HASSAN

World number four Mark Selby of England, the top-ranked contender for the inaugural SangSom 6-red Snooker International, was yesterday handed the toughest draw, but the Lady Luck smiled on Thai ace Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm. The tournament offers a total purse of more than 1.8 million baht with the winner pocketing 500,000 baht and takes place from July 8-13 at the Montien Riverside Hotel.

At yesterday's draw, Selby, winner of two world professional events in the 2007-2008 season, found himself in Group A. That has the likes of talented Thai Issara Kachaiwong and professional star Jimmy White.

The others players in the group are English professional Martin Gould (No 63), 2008 Asian Championship runner-up Aditya Mehta of India and Brendan O'Donoghue of Ireland, none of whom can be taken for granted.

Ratchapol (James Wattana) was drawn in Group D, where his toughest challenge should come from fourth seed Joe Swail (No 20) of Northern Ireland and talented English professional Tom Ford (No 48).

Former world masters champion Dene O'Kane of New Zealand, Habib Subah of Bahrain and Marvin Lim of Singapore are the other players in the group.

Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm. — FILE PHOTO

The local snooker fans will also be entertained two former world professional champions Peter Ebdon of England, currently ranked No 8, and Ireland's Ken Doherty (No 18).

Ebdon is in Group B with the reigning Thai 6-red snooker champion Thepchaiya Un-nooh, while Doherty is in Group C with Thai professional and former Asian champion Supoj Saenla.

Players in Group G, headed by world No 26 Stephen Lee of England, may also find the going tough.

The group comprises strong players like No 35 Ricky Walden of England, No 71 Matthew Selt of England, 2007 Asian Indoor Games gold medallist Mohammed Mustafa Shehab of the United Arab Emirates and 2006 IBSF World Championship semi-finalist Manan Chandra of India.

At the end of the first round on July 10 night, the top four players from each of the eight groups will qualify for the knockout stages.

TrueVision will televise live one key match every night starting at 8pm on TrueSport 3 and will then combined with NBT (Channel 11) to telecast the final live on July 13 at 3 pm.