Hamza Akbar — fighting the odds

From being forbidden to play snooker to turning pro, Hamza Akbar has faced plenty of ups and downs in his career.

With cricket hogging all the resources, acclaim and monies, life of a Pakistani sportsman who doesn’t play the gentleman's game is hard enough on its own. But when — in addition to overcoming their sporting challenges — they are expected to fight the local system's flaws too, it becomes a herculean task to do anything of note — let alone win. This is why cueist Hamza Akbar deserves far more credit than he gets.

In 2015, Akbar became the first ever cueist from Pakistan to turn pro and play in the professional circuit — unfulfilled dreams even for greats like Saleh Mohammad and former IBSF World Champion Muhammad Yousaf. The aforementioned Akbar, however, managed to do so at the age of only 21.

For a young cueist to have achieved such an honour, Akbar's should have been a household name. He should have been the one selling us dodgy shampoos through those bad television advertisements and telling us which bank to bank with. But since snooker is not something we fancy, Akbar remains in sporting doldrums.

First, he faced stiff resistance from home despite his prodigious talent. For some reason, parents don't like their kids hanging out at snooker parlours, and Hamza's family was no different. Told to get a job and stop wasting time, Hamza’s first challenge was to convince his parents that he could make a career out of potting balls with his stick. Winning the World Junior Championship in 2009 helped him build his argument, and his parents caved.

For several years, he dominated the local circuit and won all there is to win before his big moment finally arrived. In April this year, he beat India's Pankaj Advani in the final to win the Asian Snooker Championship, which earned him a two-year card for the professional tour.

This is where the government and relevant governing bodies should have come in, but they didn't — at least not on time. Short of finances and support, Hamza financed his move to the UK with the prize money he had won although he had to miss the first two events of the 20 2015-16 season due to visa troubles.

Akbar finally made it to the UK and is now competing in the pro circuit. He hasn't finished in the top two so far, but the moxie he has shown to make it this far tells us that professional success won't be too far away either.