Pakistan cueists progress to second round

Sajjad was in superb form as he progressed to the second round.

KARACHI: Pakistan cueists Imran Shahzad, Sohail Shahzad and Mohammad Sajjad began their campaign at the IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championship with confidence-boosting first round wins in Syria. Sajjad defeated Syrian Karam Fatima 4-2 including a break of 108, while Pakistan’s top cueist Imran overcame Australia’s Vinnie Calabrese 4-2 and Sohail beat Ibrahim Alkhder Alahmd of Syria 4-0.

The trio will now play in the second round, with Sohail taking on Dutch Roy Stolk, Imran facing Faaris Khan of South Africa while Sajjad faces Norwegian Alain Vandersteen.

PBSA rues arrangements

The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association President Alamgir Shaikh has rued the arrangements for the cueists, claiming that they were faulty and the organisers were not permitting people other than the players and a few other officials to enter the venue.

“Its freezing cold out here and we are facing some difficulties in contacting the players and the manager,” Shaikh told The Express Tribune. “Due to the weather conditions and the urgent change in draws last night the organisers have failed to keep the federations updated and therefore we can’t get the detailed results. However, the  IBSF has taken notice of the situation so it’s expected to get better in a day or two.”

According to Shaikh, there is a good chance that Pakistan can do well since many participants have pulled out of the tournament which features 11 groups and holds round robin matches that will end on December 11.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2010.