KARACHI:
Pakistan’s Hunain Amir crashed out of the Asian U21 Snooker Championship when he was beaten 4-3 by Iran’s Mohammad Lababi in the last-16 match on Friday evening.Amir’s loss sealed Pakistan’s fate in the event following the earlier loss of Majid Ali against an Indian opponent by the same scoreline.
Hunain showed great courage to ward off a strong challenge as he went down 3-0. However, he showed resolute character to go level before an 88-point break in the deciding frame handed Lababi the match that he won 60-26, 75-41, 62-37, 33-62, 43-62, 15-86 and 88-0.
The young cueists’ impressive show seems to have been taken note of by the local authorities as the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) has confirmed that they will send these two to the World U21 Snooker Championship to be held in China during July.
“We will do everything to send them to China as both have been tremendous in their maiden international appearance,” PBSA President Alamgir Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “We now need to find possible sponsors but if we don’t get them, we’ll try to send them on our own because they’ve been impressive. Both went down fighting and showed great character.”
Meanwhile, team manager Shabbir Hussain was also impressed by the performances.
“It’s not easy to do well in your first tournament and both players didn’t show any nerves,” said Shabbir. “I am happy that our future is bright.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2012.
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