Snooker: Awaiting a foreign coach for 22 years

Local cueists training on their own for 7-nation event.

KARACHI: Lack of funds has once again hampered Pakistan’s preparation for a major sports event — local cueists have started their preparatory camp for the Seven-Nation International Snooker Championship on their own as the federation cannot afford a foreign coach.

The six-man squad – comprising Mohammad Asif, Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Sajjad, Naveen Perwani, Abdul Sattar and Sohail Shehzad  – are competing against each other at the camp with Perwani, a seasoned player, stressing the need of a professional coach.

“I represented the country’s junior team in 1989 and, 22 years later, haven’t seen a professional coach in Pakistan,” Perwani told The Express Tribune before adding that the two coaches hired in the past were for short stints.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association officials claim that, given the Rs800,000 grant allocated to them by the Pakistan Sports Board, it was impossible to hire the services of a foreign coach while continuing to hold events as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2012.