SNOOKER: TAKING THEIR CUE
While all of Pakistan was going mad over the progress and chances of the cricket team to make it to the semi-finals in the ICC World Cup in England and Wales, most people missed the country’s remarkable achievement in another sporting field. The country’s cueists made us proud by fetching half-a-dozen medals — two golds, one silver and three bronze — out of the 16 medals that were up for grabs in four back-to-back snooker competitions that were held at Doha. The gold medals in the tally have a special significance as they came after defeating archrivals India.
Snooker is one non-Olympic sporting discipline very much on the rise in the country. Pakistan’s cueists, despite infrastructural shortcomings, have time and again proved their mettle by returning home from global competitions after winning laurels.
Be it the juniors or men’s world titles, the Asian or Master’s titles, ‘6-Reds’, ‘15-Reds’ or team events played in any part of the world, Pakistan’s players have reached the top while proving that they are second to none.
Pakistan’s snooker players are doing quite well on the international circuit and earning laurels for the country. But they are being let down by their sport’s governing bodies
Just as in boxing, the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) and Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) awards bronzes to losing semi-finalists.
This time Asjad Iqbal, Mohammad Bilal, Babar Masih and debutant Zulfiqar A. Qadir did Pakistan proud. Except for the latter, the trio was quite experienced — they have made their mark in the international arena earlier as well. This time, due to the Pakistan federation’s financial constraints, the players even bore part of the expenses for their trip.
But the trip and their success did change the fortunes of the cueists. With the exception of the debutant, the others fetched approximately a million rupees apiece in prize money; Zulfiqar got about Rs0.5 million.
The financial status of top players on the circuit has improved tremendously in the recent past. Most of them have opened snooker clubs in their hometowns to make ends meet. Half-a-dozen players — the former world champion Mohammad Asif, former world number two Mohammad Sajjad, five-time NBP Cup champion Asjad Iqbal, the promising Mohammad Majid Ali, the former world U-18 champion Mohammad Naseem Akhtar and the talented Haris Tahir — are all employed by the National Bank of Pakistan, the only financial institution here catering to the needs of cueists.
There are other deserving snooker players, however, who are finding it a challenge to focus on their game in addition to looking after their families in their limited resources, or those who need jobs. Most of these players hail from lower middle class backgrounds.
About a decade ago, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) did a wise thing by setting aside Rs100,000 as monthly stipend for the top eight ranking players and the top four junior players. Under the system, the top ranking player gets Rs12,000 while number two gets Rs10,000. The players ranked number three to eight, meanwhile, receive Rs7,000 apiece. The top four juniors are also given Rs7,000 each.
PBSF rankings are issued thrice in a year — after the National Snooker Championship, the NBP Cup and the Jubilee Insurance Cup. The fourth ranking tournament has been discontinued since long.
A HISTORY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
Snooker rose to fame in the country after veteran cueist Mohammad Yousuf, now 67, scaled new heights, defeating Johannes R. Johannesson of Iceland by 11-9 frames in an epic final to win the elusive world title at Johannesburg in 1994. That was the last year in which Pakistan possessed four world titles (snooker, hockey, squash and cricket).
Mohammad Asif of Faisalabad equaled the feat by getting the better of Englishman Gary Wilson by 10-8 frames in the 2012 final at Sofia, Bulgaria. Then prodigy Mohammad Naseem Akhtar laid his hands on the World U-18 title, defeating China’s Lei Peifan by 5-3 frames in the final at Beijing in 2017. The pair of Asif and Sajjad also did Pakistan proud by capturing the World Team title in Ireland in 2013. Asif teamed up with Babar to win the World Team title in Egypt in 2017 as well.