LAHORE: World amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif has appealed to the Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fehmida Mirza for granting him a cash award, as given recently to the medallists of last year’s South Asian Games, for winning the coveted title last year.

“Recently, Dr Fehmida Mirza awarded cash prizes to the medal winners of the 2019 South Asian Games, which is a good step. All the players who have performed for the country should be honoured. And therefore, I should also be awarded for my achievement of winning the world snooker title for the country last year,” the Faisalabad-born Asif said in a video message on Thursday.

Asif, 37, has clinched the world title twice. First he won it in 2012, defeating Englishman Gary Wilson in the final at Sofia. And in November 2019, he overwhelmed Jefrey Roda of the Philippines in the decider at Antalya to bag the crown for the second time.

“I met the IPC minister after winning the 2019 world title. However, around six months have passed and I have not received any cash prize yet,” Asif lamented.

Asif said he also tried to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan after winning the title but he could not.

He appealed to the PM and the IPC minister to also honour his achievement in snooker.

Meanwhile when contacted by Dawn, a spokesman of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said the cash prizes to the 2019 South Asian Games medal winners were given under an approved policy whereas Asif’s sport — snooker — did not come under that policy.

A separate process for the approval of a cash prize to Asif was underway, the PSB spokesman revealed. However, the spokesman was not ready to confirm when the said process would be approved.

Moreover when contacted, chairman of the Pakistan Snooker Association Alamgir Anwer Sheikh said the policy of awarding snooker champions exists, noting Asif was awarded for winning the world title in 2012 and also for earning another title in 2017 by the respective governments of those times.

Alamgir said though snooker was not an Olympic sport, as Pakistan had good talent and a track record, which could dominate the world, thus a special policy for the welfare of players and promotion of the game should be made.

In fact, he added, sports activities in the country were constantly on the decline and there was a need for the government to make heavy investment in the sports sector to groom promising athletes who could showcase their talent at the international level.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2020