Sajjad awarded wild-card for Shanghai Masters

Asian Snooker Championship runner-up Mohammad Sajjad leaves for Shanghai to participate in the Shanghai Masters 2010,

KARACHI: The Asian Snooker Championship runner-up Mohammad Sajjad left for Shanghai last night to participate in the Shanghai Masters 2010 starting from September 6.

Sajjad, who was awarded a wild-card for the event, will launch his campaign against the 31st-seed Irish Ken Doherty on the first day of the £60,000-event that has more than 105 professional cueists taking part in it.

“I can predict the moves of Ken and Mark Selby,” Sajjad, who is the first cueist from Pakistan to participate in the Shanghai Masters, told The Express Tribune. “I’ve seen them play during the 6-Red International and the Korat Open so I know their signature moves.”

The last time Sajjad entered a tournament with a wild card, the Korat Open, he emerged as an unexpected winner. He also enjoys being an underdog at the tournament that has reigning World Champion Neil Robertson as well as former champions John Higgins and Stephen Hendry.

“My aim is to transcend from the amateur category to the professional list of the World Billiards and Snooker Association and that is only possible if I win the Amateur World Championship in December.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.