Would it be correct to call Ahsan Ramzan a child prodigy? Having won the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championship at 16, he is a world champion already, not just aspiring to be one.

Ahsan is no ordinary cueist. In fact, he is no ordinary individual. He has not had a normal life by any means. Each of those 16 years or every moment of his young years has been trying, full of challenges, hurdles and hardship. But it is his own brand of sheer resilience which has seen him through, which is still seeing him through thick and thin and making him pass each test with flying colours.

The youngest of six siblings — three sisters and three brothers — Ahsan was still a toddler when he lost his mother. Then, when he was 12, his father also met his Maker. Ahsan had no one to turn to, no one to take care of him. His brothers turned their backs on him after he refused to join them in the family business. His sisters were all married and had their own households to look after.

“My brothers wanted me to sit in their shop with them. It is a chicken meat shop. I can’t sit there and butcher chickens and sell chicken meat all day. Even the smell of chickens cooped up in cages makes me nauseous. Mera dil kharaab honay lagta hai [It makes me feel sick]. I also think I’m allergic or something to chickens,” Ahsan tells Eos. “And so my brothers have disowned me.”

Ahsan Ramzan recently made Pakistan proud after taking the world snooker title at the tender, young age of just 16. Eos met up with the young cueist to find out more about him

Only one of his sisters, Maria, remains concerned about her young brother and tries to help him and take care of him in whatever way that she can. Meanwhile, Ahsan has learned to rely on himself. He lives in a snooker club in Lahore and plays snooker the entire day. He has been unable to continue with his education. He dropped out of school after class eight, when his father died.

Ahsan says that he remembers that he was seven or eight when his father had brought home a pool table.

“It was a smaller table than the regular professional snooker table which I play on now. But Papa and I played something similar on it. Just him and me. Now that I think about it, I think that it was some form of billiards with fewer balls. My other brothers and sisters were never interested. But the two of us used to have so much fun,” he smiles and then goes quiet.

“I never wanted to stop playing. And today, I do just that. I practise for 10 to 12 hours. I never tire of playing snooker. Earlier, too, while playing, I just knew that this is what I wanted to do all my life. And since I played all the time, and spent most of my time at the snooker club, I was also allowed to live where I played. I didn’t have a home to go to anyway. I live in a room in the club, where I only go to crash. The rest of the time it is just me and my game,” he says.

After he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship on March 11, those who sat up to take notice of Ahsan thought that he had just appeared on the scene out of nowhere to earn glory. But Ahsan says that his success was gradual.

“In order to compete in the national snooker championship, I had to prove my worth at the Punjab Cup, which is not as simple as it sounds. There are around 400 to 500 players featuring in the Punjab Cup. And you need to be in the top eight to qualify for a slot in the nationals. But I did better than the requirement. I ended up in the top two,” Ahsan is happy to share.

“Then in the national championship, which happened some six months ago, I again finished in the top two. It cleared the way for me to go international, to the World Snooker Championship. I had never travelled outside Pakistan before this Qatar trip,” he says.

Asked if he also got the chance to enjoy the sights and sounds of Doha, Ahsan says: “Maybe next time.”

He explains: “Well, I would play a match and go to my room to come back the next day for another match. So it was just playing and going to my room. But it will not be like this always. I will see the world, I will also enjoy life, but later.

“There is plenty of time for all that. First, I need to move beyond this single success because one championship is nothing. I am hungry for more. Many more victories,” he says.

And what’s next? “Many more championships, many more cups,” quips Ahsan. “The Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation has a busy calendar for me. And I am also looking forward to making my country proud. I have a fine coach in Shahid Hussain, who was Pakistan great Mohammad Asif’s former coach. He can guide and I can work hard.”

And is there money in the game? “Well, yes. The money, though it is nothing compared to how much cricketers make, is not bad. I got 4,000 US dollars for my World Snooker title and before that I was presented with 400,000 rupees for my local victories. I also got a one-year Karachi Club membership,” he says.

Asked then why he didn’t try his luck in cricket since it pays more, Ahsan smiles. “I only had talent for snooker. That’s my true calling,” he shrugs.

And what about other things? Having done with education and finding success in snooker, what about life? Marriage? He starts giggling. “I don’t have permission for that,” he says.

When asked whose permission was he looking for with his brothers having disowned him and his sisters busy in their lives, Ahsan replies: “Mine! I have not given myself the permission to even think about such things. Let me make a proper name for myself and my country. There is plenty of time for other worldly matters. I am 16 after all. I need your prayers more than I need a bride!”

The writer is a member of staff

She tweets @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 3rd, 2022