PBSA chief unhappy with cueists’ show

Believes players have fared poorly at IBSF World U21 Championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) President Alamgir Sheikh expressed discontent over the players’ performances at the IBSF World U21 Snooker Championship. The official is accompanying the national team at the event in China.

Sheikh’s criticism comes after Pakistan’s top junior player Mohsin Amin so far recorded just two wins in five matches in Group G. On the other hand, Amir Tariq has won three out of five matches he has contested in Group H. Mohammad Majid has also won three out of his five matches, while Humza Akbar has notched up two victories from his five outings.



“Our players haven’t been able to give their best so far which is a real worry,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “I feel they’ve been unable to play upto their potential. They need to up their game for the knockouts because there will hardly be any margin for error.”

The official said that he had been trying to motivate the cueists, adding that he even set up a meeting with professional coaches in China to boost their confidence.

“From what I’ve seen so far, the expectations are very low but who knows, one of them might click during the knockout stages.”

Meanwhile on the fourth day, Majid was beaten twice, first by Hong Kong’s Nansen Sin Man Wan 4-2 and then Iran’s Siyavosh Mozayani 4-1.

Humza enjoyed mixed fortunes as he first triumphed against Austria’s Markus Pfistermüller 4-0 and then lost against China’s Wang Zepeng 4-3. Amir won against Singapore’s Wei Cong Terence Tham 4-0 and then lost with a similar scoreline against China’s Zhou Yuelong.

Mohsin too suffered two defeats as first he was beaten by UAE’s Badr Obaid Almehairi 4-2 and then by China’s Lu Ning 4-0.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2013.

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