Snooker: My teammate’s the weak link says Shehzad

Pakistan’s top cueist admits Toba’s inexperience adding pressure.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s number one cueist Imran Shehzad has admitted that delivering a good performance at the World Championship will not be easy for him given the amount of pressure he is under.

Shehzad said that Asif Toba, his teammate for the event, had the potential to surprise his opponents, but the 25-year-old’s inexperience at the international level will be a drawback for Pakistan and that remained the biggest worry.

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association had named Shehzad and Toba for the global event after the two had reached the final of the national ranking tournament last month. Shehzad, however, voiced his concerns regarding the merits of the selection.

“I feel that we don’t have the strongest team in the championship,” Shehzad told The Express Tribune.  “If I was partnered by Mohammad Sajjad or Shahid Aftab, it would’ve been different but with Toba there, I wouldn’t even be able to seek advice from him since it’ll be his international debut.”

Meanwhile, Toba, who fared poorly at the Del Monte Ranking Tournament recently, has said that his below-par show at the event does not mean that he will not be able  to deliver later this month.

“I feel that the tournament’s format helped me in preparing for the world championship,” he said. “I know my weaknesses now and am working on them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2011.