KARACHI, June 29: Sindh Minister for Youth Affairs, Syed Faisal Subzwari, has expressed optimism that the two Pakistani youngsters Hunain Amir and Majid Ali will enhance the country’s soft image by featuring in the upcoming IBSF world under-21 snooker championship, which is being held at Wuxi in China’s Jiangsu province from July 14 to 22.

He was speaking at a simple ceremony at the Karachi Gymkhana held to present a cheque worth Rs246,000 to the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) on account of players’ participation in the IBSF event.

The secretary of the Youth Affairs, Shoaib Siddiqui, PBSA president Alamgir Shaikh and other officials, including Wahid Qadir and Munawwar Shaikh, were also present on the occasion.

Pakistan will be represented in the Under-21 event by Hunain and Majid Ali, the winner and the runner-up of this year’s national junior snooker championship.

The two made their international debut in the Asian under-21 meet held at Goa in the recent past.

Earlier, the PBSA president applauded the role played by the ministry of youth affairs in sharing fifty per cent travel cost of the players at a short notice.

Shaikh recalled that he approached the ministry after failing to get positive response from the PSB, Punjab government, Punjab Sports Board, etc.

The PBSA official said he had requested the main sponsors of the game — Jubilee Insurance — to share the remaining fifty percent cost.

The team, which is training in Islamabad under the supervision of former world amateur champion Mohammad Yousuf, leaves for Wuxi on July 12.—Sports Correspondent