Mumbai, Jan 1 (IANS): Former Asian Games gold medallist Rafat Habib, seasoned Siddharth Parikh, Nitesh Madan and Devendra Joshi and former junior national champions Ashutosh Padhy and Anuj Upal will be among the top contenders hoping to advance to the main draw of the NSCI All-India Snooker Open 2023, which will be played from January 2 to 14.

Habib, Parikh and Madan will also be representing Railways, Joshi will turn out for Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB); Rrahul Sachdev and Mahesh Jagdale of Maharashtra; Tamil Nadu's Vijay Nichani, Padhy of Odisha and Anuj Upal of Delhi will be among 128 cueists that will be fighting for 32 places in the main draw, which will commence from January 8.

With 13 lakh as total prize money, the second edition is set to give away Rs 3 lakh to the winner followed by 1.5 lakh to the runner-up and ultimately going down the ladder to give Rs.5,000 to the 32 qualifiers to be the highest paying tournament to start in 2023. An award of Rs 1500 would be presented for every century (100 plus) break.

A competitive field of 128 snooker players from across the country will be hoping to secure a place among the 32 qualifiers who would join the 32 established cueists on the Indian snooker circuit, who have been given direct entry to the main draw.

The initial rounds will be played on a best-of-5-frame format, while the round to qualify will be a best-of-7-frame contest.