Pakistan is gearing up to host its third World Snooker Championship. Hopefully, our players will be ready to bring the glory home
SNOOKER, the cue and ball game, which was once considered a sport of affluent class, has become the game of masses now. It is on record that the baize game has made rapid progress in the last decade as other sports continued to be on the verge of decline.
The success of snooker, the baize game that has successfully become the game of the masses, can be attributed to four factors — Muhammed Yousuf’s conquest of the World and Asian titles, sponsorship, the Pakistan Billiard and Snooker Association’s leadership and coverage of the game in the print and electronic media.
Though Pakistan has not been able to win back the World or Asian title, it went on to add yet another glory — a gold and two bronze medals at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games where the baize game become a medal sport in the history of regional games. Four years later, at Busan, Pakistani cueists returned with two bronze. And finally, the fraternity of the game can’t forget the superb performance of Saleh Muhammed who lost the title battle to Indian Pankaj Advani in the 2003 World championship, held in China, in the Ching Ming city.
The home cueists, preferably promising ones, will get a chance to scale new heights when PBSA, the games controlling body in the country, play’s host to the world snooker championship to be held in Karachi, this coming November.
“The PBSA plans to officially launch the Rs10 million World Championship at a befitting ceremony in the city on March 15,” said the PBSA president, Ali Asghar Valika. He was talking to Dawn Magazine in an interview during the recently concluded national premier snooker championship.
This will be the third world snooker championship to be held in the port city after 1966 and 1993. The participation in the first one was low and not at par in the second. This time, the hosts are expecting participation of at least 40 out of 54 nations affiliated with the world body.
Some foreign countries have expressed their reservation pertaining to security, but Valika has silenced them saying, “It is a global matter and not confined to Pakistan.” He added, “The venue and accommodation will be at one place, in a five-star hotel, and we will leave no stone unturned in making the event a success.”
Despite financial constraints, particularly after the government put a ban on tobacco companies from participating in sporting events, the PBSA is fulfilling all its commitments. The PBSA and a leading tobacco firm had to part their ways last year after a long affiliation of 13 years, following the government policy.
“Considering the magnitude of the event, we are negotiating with a couple of sponsors and aim to host it better than the previous one,” the PBSA chief said in response to a question.
It may be mentioned that the total prize money in the 1993 world championship was 5,000 pounds. The amount has been raised significantly this time round. This year, it’ll be 20,000 pounds.
Valika, who has given new dimension to the game since coming at the helm of PBSA, 17 years back, disclosed that Pakistan will field eight cueists in the world meet. The number could rise in case of a last minute withdrawal. Country’s top 16 cueists will go through selection trials after the Latif Master’s.
Plans to hire a foreign coach, probably from India, for a month long camp on the eve of world spectacle, are also under active consideration. In fact, former Indian celebrity, Michael Ferreria has already shown his willingness to take up the assignment. According to Asghar Valika, Pakistani cueists lacked consistency and as there will be no language barrier, he puts his weight behind hiring a coach from across the border. He gave the example of Saleh Muhammed, who he said is a better players than Pankaj Advani, but lost the title battle to him due to lack of consistency.
Pakistan will be up against India in the Peace Snooker Series, to be held in Karachi, this April. The series between the two arch rivals was kicked two years back on a reciprocal basis.
Commenting on making amendments in the selection criteria of the players, he said: “The PBSA has stopped direct passage of two finalists of the national’s to future Asian and World championships.” PBSA will conduct trials for the selection of two cueists for the Asian Championship that is scheduled to be held in Mumbai in May.
He singled out Shehram Changezi, Rambel Gul and Saqib Butt who have the potential but lacked technical grooming and match temperament. PBSA, he said, was seriously thinking of launching the Under-21 circuit aimed at bringing the second tier at par with the top eight cueists.
Answering a question, he said the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has restored the annual grant of the PBSA; the grant was stopped for not implementing the national sports policy. “I gave a petition to the Sports Minister with the contention that the policy was made in haste. We can’t seek affiliation at district and tehsil level,” he remarked.
POA chief, Arif Hasan has already admitted that the policy was made unilaterally without taking into confidence the quarters concerned.
Valika added another feather to his cap when, as president of the Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation (ABSF), for six years — 1994-2000 — he managed to get the game included in the Asian Games, at Bangkok, in 1998.
With so many achievements under his belt, he has now only one vision left; to secure surplus funds from the world championship, for constructing PBSA’s own headquarter where the talent can be groomed and the sport prosper before saying adieu to the game gracefully. This is also the election year of the PBSA.
Pakistan is gearing up to host its third World Snooker Championship. Hopefully, our players will be ready to bring the glory home
