“I have been dreaming of playing with the professionals like Ronnie O’Sullivan, and this time he will be participating in the event as well, so it is a very big leap for me personally,” said the 25-year-old, who takes the tournament as a measure of success.
“It is an honour for Pakistan to receive an invitation from the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF)” Alamgir Sheikh, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) president told The Express Tribune. “We are ranked second in Asia, so we need to send our cueist to Bangkok.”
According to Sheikh, the sports ministry has refused to provide the funds for Sajjad’s tour. But the PBSF decided to arrange the trip at a cost of Rs150,000 as Sajjad had represented Pakistan in the 25th Asian Snooker Championship in China, and the IBSF World meet in Hyderabad earlier this year.
The hunt for a coach
Sheikh also said that the Pakistan Sports Ministry is still undecided on hiring the Indian coach to prepare the team for the 2010 Asian Games and the World Snooker Championship in December. He added that the federation will have to wait till next month, as the ministry plans to discuss the Federation’s request in their finance and budget meeting later this month.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2010.
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