Ignoring Asif not the right example, say young cueists

PM Sharif urged to hand snooker world champion his just reward.

KARACHI: Upcoming cueists have stated that the cold shoulder being meted out to IBSF World Champion Mohammad Asif by the government was hardly something that could motivate them to give their best.

Asif won the world championship last December; however, he is still awaiting his rightful prize money by the Government of Pakistan that include the former PPP regime and the present PML-N government.

The 31-year-old cueist from Faisalabad will be defending his crown in the upcoming world championship to be held in Latvia from November 27 – December 8.



Although the likes of Asjad Iqbal, Mohammad Majid Ali, Humza Akbar, Mohsin Amin and others are touted to be the future of Pakistan snooker, they fear that their efforts would go in vain.

It is pertinent to mention here that besides being the world champion, Asif is also the current holder of the Asian 6-Red title and has won the IBSF World Team Champion along with Mohammad Sajjad.

“The government isn’t setting the right example for young players by overlooking a player of Asif’s calibre,” one of the fast-rising cueists told The Express Tribune.

“Instead of honouring him by giving his rightful prize money and treating him as a role model for the youth to follow, the government has been disregarding his achievements so far.

“If he had been in any other country, he would’ve become a national hero; but here he is without any support, which leaves us with fears for the future of Pakistan’s snooker.”

Meanwhile, another young player stressed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must give Asif his reward before he leaves for the world championship in a few days’ time.

“Prime Minister Sharif should come forward himself and give Asif his due before he leaves to defend his crown, because it’ll do a world of good to his confidence,” he said.

Asif, Masih move into ranking event semis

The semi-finals of the Langnese 4th Ranking Snooker Cup will be played today between Muhammad Bilal – Baber Masih and Asif – Imran Shehzad in best-of-11-frame matches.

High-flying Masih finally lost in the event at the hands of Sharjeel Mehmood, who won 4-3 and also managed to hit a break of 135 points. Mehmood won by scores of 12-67, 39-62, 26-57, 70-44, 135-0(135), 52-29 and 74-40.

Masih had beaten Amir Tariq in straight sets earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Asif notched two victories against Shahid Aftab and Farhan Noor with respective scorelines of 4-3 and 4-0.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2013.

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