Cue Slam launched, to be held in Ahmedabad from Aug 19-25

The Cue Slam -- Indian Cue Masters League, was today formally launched here and the inaugural season would be held in Ahmedabad from August 19 to 25.
The League will be a five team affair with franchises from leading cities across the country competing for honours.
The teams from New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad have been christened as Delhi Dons, Chennai Sharks, Gujarat Kings, Bengaluru Buddies and Hyderabad Hustlers.
As many as 25 players were picked during the players' draft earlier in the day, with marquee players being picked at USD 15,000.
Cue Slam will be played on a round robin cum knock-out format. Each tie will consist of five matches with three 6 Red snooker and two 9 Ball pool matches per tie. Each franchise will have five players (1 Icon player, 1 Female player, 3 men players, with a stipulation that a minimum of three Indians will be in the team).

Sportzlive Entertainment, who are also the official license holders of the Premier Badminton League, have acquired long-term rights for Cue Slam. While BSFI will provide technical support and help in acquiring players, Sportzlive will be responsible for managing and executing the league.

16-time World Champion Pankaj Advani, said "a format like this will excite the fans and I see it becoming a very popular sport very soon. We had been waiting it for long time.
"It is extremely fast paced game, we have to adapt ourselves just like the audience likes it. People like fast paced games, they like unpredictable results, they like upsets, they like drama and that's what we are going to provide and we are really looking forward to it as players."

When asked if they need to undergo separate training Pankaj said, "Obviously, 15 seconds to play a shot which is very quick. Yes, we will have to train separately for this because it is extremely fast paced and it is going to be very exciting.
"I am going to see lot of errors as well because players are not used to it but i guess it adds to the drama and excitement.
"Obviously it is not going to be the ideal way of playing in terms of skill and lasting over a long period of time. But, I guess we also have to move with the times and look forward for promoting our sport and packaging it in the best possible way," Pankaj said, reacting to another query.