IBSF World Championship: Asif targeting glory as cueists off to Doha

2012 champion says Pakistan trio practised without coach but still confident of success

KARACHI: With their eyes set firmly on snooker’s most prestigious amateur crown, the Pakistani trio of Muhammad Asif, Babar Masih and Muhammad Bilal are flying to Doha, Qatar today to take part in the IBSF World Championship.

A total of 129 cueists, divided into 26 groups, are taking part in the event. The coveted competition will be being from November 19, with India’s most successful cueist Pankaj Advani defending the title he won in Egypt last year.

Asif, the winner of the 2012 edition, is Pakistan’s main hope and the 34-year-old, who is the top seed in his group, is targeting the title.

“All three of us are in good form and we are going with the target of winning the trophy,” Asif told The Express Tribune on the eve of the team’s departure. “The challenge is going to be tough but we have the potential to topple the difficult opponents.”



‘Team trained without a coach’

The three cueists assembled in Faisalabad on November 11 for a short training camp but were forced to make do without a coach.

“We trained for the event on a self-help basis and pretty much coached each other,” he said. “The presence of a coach makes a lot of difference, especially during a match in pressure situations when you need guidance.”

However, Asif said he was optimistic of overcoming the disadvantage of not having a coach.

“All of us are well prepared and the absence of coach would be no excuse for failure.”



Three cueists to represent Pakistan in Masters event      

Meanwhile, three Pakistani cueists – Naveen Perwani, Muhammad Azhar and Imran Shahzad — will also leave today to compete in the Masters event, which will run simultaneously with the main competition and features players above the age of 40.

The event will feature a total of 86 cueists with Phisit Chandsri of Thailand defending the title.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2016.

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