Vasco: Goa will get a taste of big-time snooker for the first time when the  Vascon-Manisha IBSF World Snooker Championship 2007 gets under way at the Bogmallo Beach Resort on Wednesday. The players from this event in the past have gone on to become World professional champions.

In the fray will be the Chinese who swept all before them in the last edition two years ago at Bahrain. They will be challenged by players from Europe and Thailand, besides India whose eight lads trained for three weeks in Thailand for this event.

China are the top of the ten seeds, followed by Ireland, Wales, Scotland , Thailand, England, Australia, Belgium, Northern Ireland, India.

Chinese Yu Delu, Li Hang and  Anda Zhang will be out to replicate the 1-2-3 feat of  their countrymen  at Bahrain two years ago.

David O’Sullivan (Ireland), Daniel Wells (Wales), Robbie Williams, Michael Georgiou (both England),  Thais Pramual Jantad and Passakorn Suwannaat besides the eight Indians are bound to challenge the Chinese.

Tournament director Mohammed Kammah of Egypt said 32 of the 64 players from 26 countries  in eight groups would go into the knockout draw.

There will be a women’s event played separately for the first time and Iran have pledged prize money of $2,000 for three years.  There are four Indian girls in the fray.

Kazakhstan, Russia and Sri Lanka have withdrawn from the event.

Tournament co-ordinator Devendra Joshi said the fact that IBSF world champ Pankaj Advani has failed to  reach the semis of the World U-21 shows how high the standard is in this event.

Derek Sippy, co-ordinator and BSAM secretary, said efforts would be made to promote cue sports in Goa.

Billiards & Snooker Federation of India secretary C. Kapur said Goa was affiliated to the national federation some decades ago but was disaffiliated later.