Asjad's long wait for top spot ends

After seven years, snooker star is Pakistan's number one again

KARACHI: IBSF World 6 Red team championship silver-medallist Asjad Iqbal became Pakistan's top-ranked snooker player after winning the NBP Ranking Snooker Tournament for the record fourth time.

In the final of a tournament full of surprises where many seasoned players fell early, Asjad was an exception as he defeated Shahid Aftab 8-4 in the final and dethroned his mentor Muhammad Sajjad from the top spot in the rankings.

“After seven years I’m finally back at number one position in the national rankings,” Asjad told The Express Tribune. “I’m glad the NBP Ranking tournament was the platform that marked my return to the top position. I’ve won it four times out of five so there was a lot of emotion involved too."

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Asjad was proud of the way he kept his nerves. "In the final, I was a little nervous at the beginning but when the score was 3-3 I told myself that I can’t lose this chance of becoming the top player again," he recalled.

About his usurping of his good pal Sajjad, he said: "I took away the top spot from Sajjad, who taught me how to play snooker and also won the last ranking tournament. I told him if he wins one national championship, it means I'd be winning the next one.”

Asjad feels that due to the new emerging talent, pressure to perform on the local circuit is even greater than the one in international tournaments, with his opinion supported by the early falls of veterans Sajjad, Muhammad Asif and Babar Masih in the recent championship.

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But Asjad takes this recent trend of upsets positively, saying: “It is a good sign as it means we always need to be on our toes.”

The now fifth-ranked Sajjd, meanwhile, all but conceded the number one ranking to Asjad, pointing out that it will be difficult for any player to top Asjad this year given there is only one more national ranking event remaining in 2017.

Next up for Asjad, Sajjad and Muhammad Bilal are the Asian Indoor Games, for which they will start training soon.

“We will only get two days at home before we leave for the national camp in Islamabad,” said Asjad. “It’s a tough schedule but we're determined to in medals there.”