Officials satisfied with cueists’ show in India
Sajjad blames change of style for early ouster.
KARACHI:
Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) President Alamgir Sheikh is satisfied with the team’s performance in the Asian Snooker Championship that was held in India.
Debutant Shahid Aftab, courtesy his run to the quarter-finals, confirmed Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming World Snooker Championship that will take place in Thailand in July.
Last year’s runners-up Mohammad Sajjad failed to emulate that performance and crashed out in the group stages of the tournament and Pakistan number two Imran Shehzad also met the same fate. Aftab, however, progressed to the knockout round and lost to Thailand’s Passakorn Suwannawat 5-2 in the nerve-wrecking quarter-final.
“I’m disappointed with Sajjad but at the same time very proud of Aftab,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “I still believe that Sajjad is a very talented cueist but I fail to understand why he is not performing well for the past six months.
“He needs to practice hard and improve his game because after his performance in the championship, the PBSA will need to think twice before sending him abroad for future events. However, we were surprised by Aftab’s performance. He is our confirmed participant in the World Championship.”
According to Sheikh, Imran and Sajjad fared poorly because of a lack of uninformed coaching and now the PBSA has recommended the Pakistan Sports Board to approve funds for PBSA to hire a foreign coach from Thailand, China or India to train the cueists for the World Championships.
Meanwhile, Sajjad said that his experimentation with playing style has cost him the Asian number two ranking. He feels that his attempt to imitate former snooker champions Stephen Hendry has hurt his game.
“I am extremely disappointed since I had practiced for the tournament, but I think I have been experimenting a lot and somehow I can’t get the grip of the technique,” he said. “When I started playing snooker, I used to have my natural style which was considered primitive and raw in the international tournament. I would win matches using my own technique but I would never get the same appreciation so I decided to change my style but in doing so, I lost my touch.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2011.
Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) President Alamgir Sheikh is satisfied with the team’s performance in the Asian Snooker Championship that was held in India.
Debutant Shahid Aftab, courtesy his run to the quarter-finals, confirmed Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming World Snooker Championship that will take place in Thailand in July.
Last year’s runners-up Mohammad Sajjad failed to emulate that performance and crashed out in the group stages of the tournament and Pakistan number two Imran Shehzad also met the same fate. Aftab, however, progressed to the knockout round and lost to Thailand’s Passakorn Suwannawat 5-2 in the nerve-wrecking quarter-final.
“I’m disappointed with Sajjad but at the same time very proud of Aftab,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “I still believe that Sajjad is a very talented cueist but I fail to understand why he is not performing well for the past six months.
“He needs to practice hard and improve his game because after his performance in the championship, the PBSA will need to think twice before sending him abroad for future events. However, we were surprised by Aftab’s performance. He is our confirmed participant in the World Championship.”
According to Sheikh, Imran and Sajjad fared poorly because of a lack of uninformed coaching and now the PBSA has recommended the Pakistan Sports Board to approve funds for PBSA to hire a foreign coach from Thailand, China or India to train the cueists for the World Championships.
Meanwhile, Sajjad said that his experimentation with playing style has cost him the Asian number two ranking. He feels that his attempt to imitate former snooker champions Stephen Hendry has hurt his game.
“I am extremely disappointed since I had practiced for the tournament, but I think I have been experimenting a lot and somehow I can’t get the grip of the technique,” he said. “When I started playing snooker, I used to have my natural style which was considered primitive and raw in the international tournament. I would win matches using my own technique but I would never get the same appreciation so I decided to change my style but in doing so, I lost my touch.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2011.