Akbar’s 1.5m cash award released by PSB

Cueist receives prize a year after being crowned Asian champion

Professional cueist, Pakistan’s Hamza Akbar’s cash award of Rs1.5 million has been released by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) announced on Tuesday.

Akbar, the first Pakistani to feature in the professional snooker circuit, won the title in April 2015 and has been requesting the PSB consistently to release his prize money.

Since January last year, Sports Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada has been on his case and following a year after he issued instructions to release Akbar’s prize money, the young cueist finally has his wish fulfilled.

In a press release, the PBSA announced that they were happy to release the funds a year after the young cueist won the Asian Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015.

“The PBSA is pleased to inform that the cash award of Rs1.5 million to Hamza Akbar — snooker player — for winning the Asian Championship for Pakistan in 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been released by PSB. The cheque of Rs1.5 million has been received by the PBSA from the PSB to be handed over to Mr Hamza Akbar, former Asian snooker champion,” read the statement.