Ramzan ‘hoping to win medal in Doha’

Manager Kapadia hopes U21 players won’t return empty handed to Pakistan

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s Ahsan Ramzan made an impressive debut, defeating India’s Digvijay Kadian 3-1 at the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World U21 Championship, as he sets up the quarterfinal against Germany’s Alexander Widau in Doha.

“We are hoping to win a medal in Doha, we will not return home empty handed,” team manager Naveed Kapadia told The Express Tribune before leaving for the event as Ramzan and Pakistan’s second entry Sheikh Muddasir left for the event.

“The cueists are well-trained and they had a good, week-long camp in Lahore. The youngsters are showing a lot of promise, while this is an international debut for Ramzan, so it is huge for him.”

During the five-day championships with young guns blazing with talent and skills competing for the top prize, the 16-year-old Ramzan created an impressive campaign finishing the group stage at the top to qualify as the second seed in the top 10.

Ramzan was placed in Group C with Kadian, Sri Lanka’s Al Fahim Kamaldeen and Russia’s Kirill Zhizduk. He defeated all of them, winning nine frames and losing only two.

Meanwhile, Mudassir was placed in Group D with Iran’s Shervin Omidvar and Egypt’s Mina Awad, where he did not manage to register a win out of his two matches.

A total of 12 countries competed in the U21 Championship with 19 players divided into five groups looking to save the spot in the knockout round . The top players from each group along with one second best directly qualified for the quarterfinals, whereas the remaining four players had to compete in the last-10 round.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s best cueists Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Sajjad also scheduled to leave for Qatar on Friday to compete at the IBSF World Championship that will begin on March 6.

Defending Champion Asif will be featured in the top event along with Sajjad and Ramzan.

“Asif will be defending the title. Since there was no championship after 2019, he holds the title. The training for them had been good. All the players were in Lahore’s Krazzan Snooker Parlour in Wapda Town. They will be doing their best in the championship too, with individual and team events,” said Kapadia.

With the latest wave of departmental teams shutting down the cueists have been rendered jobless, and have been struggling to survive. The Pakistan Sports Board has not helped in grants either, as the situation for the sportspersons in the country seem to be getting worst since 2018.

The youngsters Ramzan and Mudassir were taken in by the State Bank of Pakistan, but with the teams shutting down their livelihood has been in jeopardy. However, they are representing the country to the best of their abilities and trying to serve it with all their passion and vigour.

The Pakistani cueists will also take part in the 37th Asian Championship. Sajjad, Asif and Ramzan will look for the top finish in the event that will take place after the IBSF World Championships in Doha from March 12.