In the absence of defending champion Mike Russell, seven-time world champion Geet Sethi has been given top billing in the World Billiards Championship, to be held in Hyderabad from November 17 to 23.

The tournament, featuring 48 cuesits from 20 nations, gets underway with a match between reigning World snooker champion Pankaj Advani and John Hartley of England.

The match will be officiated by Geraldine McGillivary of Ireland, the first international woman referee.

After a round-robin league, 16 players will move into the knock-out quarter-final stage.

Six professionals, three from India and three foreigners, will display their skills with trick shots on the inaugural day with each cueist getting five minutes.

The top eight seeds: Geet Sethi (India), Praput Chaithanaskun (Thailand), Devendra Joshi, Dhruv Sitwala, Nalin Patel (India), Joe Minici (Australia), Ashok Shandilya (India) and Steve Mifsud (Australia).

The groups:

Group A: Geet Sethi (Ind), Mathew Bolton (Aus), Alexander Borg (Malta), Ukuawoo (Myanmar), Pter Francisco (South Africa), Chul Ho Huang (South Korea).

Group B: Praput Chaithanaskun (Thai), B Bhaskar(Ind), Johan Mcintyre(Nothern Ireland), Rishabh Thakkar (Ind), Hekta (Indonesia), A Bari Chowdhury( Bangladeah).

Group C: Devendra Joshi (Ind), Robby Foldvari (Aus), Wayne Carey (new Zealand), Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan), Mark Anthony Boyle (Scotland), Hasan Manfaluti (Indonesia).

Group D: Dhruv Sitwala (Ind), David Causier( Eng) pro, Roy Lattimer (Northern Ireland), Martin Spoormanns (Belgium), Tauriq Samsodien( South Africa).

Group E: Nalin Patel (Ind), John Hartley (Eng), Eugene Hughes (Rep of Ireland), Pankaj Advani (Ind), Thawat Sujarijthurakaran (Thai), Hoon Kim Do (South Korea).

Group F: Jeo Minici (Aus), Ian Williamson (Eng), James Moore (Rep of Ireland), Siddarth Parikh (Ind), Uang San OO (Myanmar), Glen Yeo Teck Shin (Singapore).

Group G: Ashok Shandilya (Ind), Paul Bennett (Eng), Gary Oliver (New Zealand), Khurram Hussain Agha (Pakistan), Duncan Bezzina (Malta), N N G Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka).

Group H: Steve Mifsud (Aus), Alok Kumar (Ind), Lee Lagan (Eng), Stephen Baillie (Scotland), KH Sirisoma (Sri Lanka), Friddie Soh Chye Hian.