Karachi: Another year has passed without any fanfare on the country’s snooker front though representation was made in all the global competitions and the cueists travel needs were met by the games controlling body through concerted efforts.
World, Asian, IBSF U-21 and 6-Redball World Grand Prix snooker contests were the four major events where Pakistan figured but in the end, none of the players could match their predecessor’s feats.
Mohammad Sajjad and Mohammad Asif earned the honour to represent the country in 25th Asian Snooker Championship in Tangshen, China, and the IBSF World meet in Hyderabad, India.
Raees joined Sajjad in the 6Redball at Bangkok while Asjad Iqbal and Hamza Akber travelled to Kish Island, Iran, to compete in IBSF U-21 event.
Asian spectacle was the first test for Pakistani cueists and Asif, who dethroned Sajjad to crown National title in March, made his exit in the pre quarter-final while the former national champion could not even make it to the knockout stage.
Sajjad, however, hit headlines in the 6-Redball when he blanked noted pro John Higgins 5-0 in the opener. The victory came after he was awarded first three frames due to late arrival of his opponent and raced to complete the rout by taking the next two.
Continuing, he stunned another celebrity Noppadon Noppachorn 5-4 but went down 2-5 to Habib Sabah before bouncing back to edge past Sancha Lippe 5-1.
He tasted second defeat, 2-5 to Matthew Stevens, to finish third in his group and advance to last 32. Finally, he ended his engagements losing 3-6 to Ricky Walden.
Raees, on the other hand, could only register one win in the league against an English player and met his fate.
Sajjad was again on song as he topped his group with an unbeaten run in the IBSF World Championship but failed to end the jinx by not going beyond last 32 while his contemporary Asif finished below par in last 64.
National junior champion Asjad and losing finalist Hamza also failed to deliver the goods in the U-21 event in Iran.
Pakistan’s world ranking was improved when the country leaped three places to attain seventh spot from previous 10th.
On the domestic front, the relations between PBSA and players which became sour in Aug 2008 were improved after the former offered nine-month central contract to top eight of every quarterly ranking.
The step put an additional burden of Rs4,05,000 on the games controlling body.Sajjad dominated the domestic scene capturing two of the three ranking titles after surrendering the national crown to Asif in March. Latif Masters, the fourth ranking event of PBSA calendar could not take place.
Sajjd was also offered a contract employment in the National Bank.
Asif surged to top slot in the first national ranking released after the 34th country’s premier championship pushing Sajjad to second place.
Sajjad, however, reclaimed his top position when he beat Raees 8-3 in the final to win the second event of the year. The latter who was earlier lying third earned the second slot in the second quarterly NR.
Sajjad maintained his top ranking after he overcame Saqib Butt 8-3 to grab the third ranking title of the year.
Alamgir Shaikh who succeeded Asghar Valika at the helm of PBSA shuttled between Karachi and Islamabad time and again and managed to secure hefty funds to the tune of 2.4 million rupees from the government for the first time ever to run the circuit.
He also brought in new sponsors and was instrumental in giving incentives to the cueists through central contracts.
Former world champion Mohammad Yousuf and former world No 2 Saleh Mohammad rose to the occasion after numerous attempts.
It was in the 10th appearance when the latter reached the pinnacle of his career before going down 6-11 to Indian Pankaj Advani at Jiangmin, China, in 2003.
Expecting miracles from the present lot in their maiden appearance is like asking for a moon. They too, need some time, exposure and coaching to reach excellence.
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