Asif confident despite eyesight problem

IBSF world champion hampered during ongoing national snooker event.

KARACHI: IBSF world champion Mohammad Asif, suffering from an eyesight problem, has been hampered during the ongoing Jubilee Insurance 38th National Snooker Championship but, is confident of doing well at the event.

The issue arose last year but the complication has increased, affecting his performance at the tournament and was one of the main reasons for his defeat on the opening round at the hands of Mohammad Ishtiaq.

“I’m having problems with my eyesight and that resulted in the shock loss on the opening day,” Asif told The Express Tribune. “I’ve seen an eye specialist and have even started wearing glasses while taking my medication. But I cannot wear glasses during matches and that can affect my performance.”

With eyesight playing the most crucial part in any sport, especially snooker, Asif is hopeful of recovering and keeping his winning momentum after clinching the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Bulgaria last year.

Meanwhile, Ishtiaq continued his good run as he defeated Baber Masih 4-2, while Mohammad Yousuf and Umair Alam completed a 4-0 rout of Aakash Rafique and Qamar Zaman respectively.

Youngster Muhammad Majid Ali pipped Javed Ansari 4-3 with frame scores of 12-66, 58-43, 58-49, 37-66, 28-63, 66-38 and 69-08, while Khurram Agha won with a similar scoreline against Mohsin Amin.

Shafiullah stunned second-seed Asjad Iqbal 4-2, while Hamza Akbar shocked Sohail Shehzad with a 4-1 victory. Sultan Muhammad redeemed himself with a respectable 4-2 win against Abdul Majid.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2013.