Humza Akbar gearing up for top honours

Pakistan snooker prodigy eyeing U21 World Championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s snooker fortunes have been on the rise ever since Mohammad Asif became the IBSF World Amateur Champion last year and then the Asian 6-Red Champion recently. These successes have proved a beacon of hope for youngsters.

Humza Akbar and Mohammad Majid are two such gifted cueists, who have begun to showcase their talent at the international level with promising results.

Majid was runner-up in the Asian U21 Championship, while Humza displayed nerves of steel in the recently concluded Asian Team Championship where he won the singles matches to keep Pakistan in the hunt despite Asif losing the openers in the group stages.

“The international exposure has boosted my confidence as I helped Pakistan make a comeback twice in the Asian team event,” Humza told The Express Tribune.



“It was great to step up to help my team when the world champion had lost his opening matches and that gives you the confidence that you can compete with anybody.

“Majid and I are lucky that we attended a 10-day coaching clinic in Qatar which helped us pinpoint the areas where we can improve.”

The cueist said he was grateful to the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) for helping the players to exhibit their skills outside the country despite very limited resources, stating that such quality coaching clinics can take the game of Pakistani players to another level.

Both cueists returned to Pakistan recently with Humza already back to practising as he is determined to do well in the U21 World Championship, which starts next month in Beijing, China.

“I’m training for long hours in Faisalabad under the guidance of Asif. He has been acting as my mentor. To have a world champion looking after you really helps because you get to learn from his experience and that can play a crucial part in big events.”

‘PBSA will continue supporting cueists’

PBSA President Alamgir Sheikh said that any player demonstrating prowess would be sent to international tournaments as well as to the top coaching clinics globally.

“We’ve promised all players that if they produce good shows, their efforts will be recognised,” said Sheikh. “Coaching clinics play an important role in the development of a player and we’re keen to continue with the policy of providing potential cueists a chance to learn.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2013.