KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) that nurtures sportspersons in a big way is likely to induct one or two junior cueists into their sports pool in the near future having the ability to rein and deliver the goods in the days ahead.

“We plan to give employment to juniors aimed at serving the game on one end and to help the cueists to rise to the occasion on the other, the divisional head of the Corporate Social Respon­sibility (CSR) Ovais Asad Khan said while speaking at a press conference at Karachi Gymk­hana on Wednesday.

It is pertinent to mention that the NBP already had five cueists in their sports pool including a former world champion, a former world No 2 and a former Asian champion.

The CSR head assured that the bank will continue to support the game in cash and kind and hire those budding players who have the potential to carry the country’s flag aloft globally.

He presented a cheque of Rs1.0 million to the PBSF president Alamgir Shaikh on account of the NBP Cup.

Lauding the role of NBP, the PBSF chief said: “It’s one of our backbones which is evident from the hosting of eighth successive event in addition to doling out monthly remuneration to the cueists.”

To a question, he termed the performance of cueists at the World 6-Reds and Team Snooker Championships which concluded at Sharm-el-Sheikh recently, as “below par”.

He disclosed that two juniors — Haris Tahir and Mohammad Saqib — are expected to fly to Brussels on Sunday to compete in the World under-18 and under-21 snooker championships. They will be accompanied by manager-cum-referee Shabbir Hussain.

Meanwhile, the eighth NBP ranking snooker cup, the third event of the PBSF calendar, which cues off at the bank’s sports complex on Monday will see 26 players vying for honours.

Besides the top 24 ranking cueists, two juniors – Muzammil Khan and Hunain Amir – will compete in the event which carry Rs1,50,000 total prize money.

The winner will get Rs60,000 while the runner-up earn Rs35,000. The highest break scorer, as usual, receives Rs5,000.

Normally, the NBP Cup is organised after the National Snooker Championship every year but this time it was rescheduled.

Groups:

A: Babar Masih (Punjab), Shahid Aftab (Punjab), Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh), Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab), Mohammad Iftikhar Khan (Sindh), Abdu Raheem (Punjab).

B: Sohail Shehzad (Sindh), Mohammad Asif (Punjab), Mohammad Faheem (Punjab), Sharjeel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdul Sattar (Sindh), Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

C: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab), Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab), Abdul Jawed (Punjab), Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab), Mohammad Ijaz (Punjab), Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh), Muzammil Khan (Sindh).

D: Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Abu Saim (Punjab), Shahram Changezi (Islamabad), Ian Mark John (Sindh), Mohammad Afzal (Punjab), Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Hunain Amir (Punjab).

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2016