Pakistan’s Sajjad won his match against Owens with a scoreline of 33-70, 71-22, 71-32(70), 45-75, 104-07 and 96-09(96). PHOTO: FILE/EXPRESS
The PBSA bids for 6-Red, Masters, Women and Team World Cups were declared successful in an International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) meeting held for the purpose.
It is pertinent to mention here that under the leadership of Alamgir and secretary Munawwar Sheikh, the PBSA has taken the game of snooker to new heights at a time when international sporting activities in the country virtually remain suspended for three to four years.
The snooker body played a key role in inviting foreign teams to tour Pakistan by hosting international tournaments in Karachi, while it also helped Pakistani cueists get maximum exposure and jobs.
“This is a very proud moment for the PBSA, Pakistan and I that we’ve been awarded the 2015 world cup event,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune from Latvia.
“We’d been working very hard to make sure that the international snooker fraternity feels safe to play in Pakistan and all our efforts have now come to fruition with this major development.
“Since the last five years, my organisation was striving hard to promote snooker to the best of our abilities and to attract sponsors in the game so that our players could secure jobs.”
The official revealed that they have already got sponsors for the events that are expected to be held in August 2015 as their regular sponsor, Jubilee Insurance, has given them a nod for sponsoring the 6-Red World Cup and Team Championship.
Despite cricket being the most popular sport in the country, it is snooker that has been Pakistan’s most progressive game in the last yearm with Mohammad Asif becoming the IBSF world champion and Asian 6-Red winner. Additionally, Asif along with Mohammad Sajjad went on to win the maiden IBSF World Team Championship.
“Snooker has been making Pakistan proud, but it’s up to the government to acknowledge these achievements and results which have come our way.
“Sadly, that has not been the case so far. However, I’m positive that the government will play its part in the 2015 events.”
Imran becomes first casualty in Latvia
Imran Shehzad became the first out of the four Pakistan cueists to bow out of the ongoing IBSF World Championship as he was upstaged by Belgium’s Hans Blanckaert 4-2.
Imran started off on the wrong foot as he trailed 2-0 against his opponent before decreasing the lead to one frame. However, Blanckaert won a crucial fourth frame after a tough fight to restore his two-frame lead which ultimately helped him to win by scores of 73-40, 82-54, 38-61, 65-58(52), 09-93(77) and 65-49.
Meanwhile, compatriot Mohammad Sajjad won 4-2 against Scotland’s Mark Owens while Asif and Shahid Aftab were yet two finish their matches till the filing of this report.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2013.
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