KARACHI, April 26: Mubarak al Khayarin, secretary general of the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS), gave full marks to Pakistan for making befitting arrangements for the 29th Asian Snooker Championship in Karachi.

“The arrangements made by the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) for the mega event are excellent,” Mubarak, who arrived from Doha on Friday told Dawn on the eve of the inauguration.

He was elated to see the arrangements getting final shape in the Darbar Hall where eight brand new Shender tables have been placed for the tournament matches.

“I can say with conviction that Pakistan is a safe place which is evident that players and officials from 14 foreign countries have assembled here for the Asian snooker event,” Mubarak, who took over the ACBS secretary ship last year at Doha, said in response to a query.

He added that there’s no security problem and was confident that it will run smoothly.

He announced appointment of Pakistan’s Shoaib Alam Khan as Tournament Director for the event as ACBS TD Roni Chaw couldn’t make it. ‘We’ll do away with the practice of sending the ACBS TD for supervising event and instead groom more officials for future,” he added.

Comparing the Pakistan event with Asian under-21 snooker and English billiards held in Indore earlier this month, he said the number of nations is higher here than in India.

“Nine countries featured in the Asian under-21 snooker whereas seven countries featured in billiards,” he recalled.

Yet to another question, he said the event was open for cueists from Thailand, China, Pakistan, UAE, Iran and Qatar.