Pakistani cuemen fly to India for Asian Snooker Championship 2011 after visa confirmation
A four-member Pakistani squad, including three cueists and a team manager, will leave for India on Thursday, the 21st of April, to take part in the 27th Asian Snooker Championship.
The championship is taking place at Indore, India on Saturday, the 23rd of April. The Indian officials confirmed the squad’s visa clearance on Wednesday.
The four-member squad comprises of top three national players, Muhammad Sajjad, Imran Shahzad and Muhammad Shahid Aftab along with the team manager, Shabbir Ahmad Daruwala. Daruwala will also be appearing
as a referee to supervise the matches of the tournament as per invitation from the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sport (ACBS).
Pakistan’s participation in the event was doubtful because of the visa issue, however, the vice president of Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) and the president of Madhya Pradesh Billiards
and Snooker Association (MPBSA), Bholu Mehta, confirmed the visas of the Pakistani squad on Wednesday, the 20th of April.
“We have received the information from the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) that the three players have been issued visas by the Indian government. This development will help improve
bilateral sporting ties between the two countries,” said Mehta.
PBSA has also expressed their gratitude to the Indian High Commission situated in the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, on the grant of visas.
Asian number two and national number three, Muhammad Sajjad, has been top seeded and will be representing Pakistan. He is looking forward to keep up to the expectations of the association like he
did in the bilateral snooker series between Pakistan and Iran earlier this month.
“It’s an honour for Pakistan and me that I have been named top seed for this event. I am feeling good and confident to return with the title which eluded me in Thailand. My game is good and I made
a number of century breaks in training camp in Islamabad. I like playing in India because of similarities in culture language and food,” he commented.
The former World Amateur Snooker Champion, Pankaj Adwani of India, is seeded second while former Asian champions Yasin Merchant and Jin Long have been seeded third and fourth respectively. A former
Pakistani snooker ace, Saleh Muhammad, ex-world championship runner-up, will represent Afghanistan in the event.
All three players have arrived in Karachi after the end of their training session in Islamabad. The trio were also a part of the squad for the bilateral snooker series in Iran where Pakistan lost
to the host country. The eight-day Asian Snooker Championship 2011 will feature 44 cuemen representing 19 nations including six cuemen from the host country, India.
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