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Islamabad:
Afghan cueist Saleh Muhammad lifted his first amateur Asian trophy
as he won the 29th Asian Snooker Championship in Pakistan's port
city of Karachi.
The 40-year-old cueist, who represented Pakistan for 16 years
before moving to his home land Afghanistan in 2006, defeated the
Syrian player Omar al Kojah by 7-2 in the best of 13-frames final
match Friday.
"It's a great moment for me and my nation. I think, it's first
ever Asian title won by an Afghan in any sports. This means a lot
for me as I am bringing back some happiness for my people," Saleh
told Xinhua.
Despite the restive situation in the city, the Pakistan Billiards
and Snooker Federation (PBSF) successfully hosted the 29th Asian
Snooker Championship that started April 27 with the participation
of 14 countries.
The featuring nations include hosts Pakistan, China, Afghanistan,
Iran, Iraq, Mongolia, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South
Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
All the players were divided into eight groups. But no Pakistani
player including World Amateur Champion Muhammad Asif could
qualify for the semi-finals.
This was the fourth time for Pakistan that it staged the Asian
major competition after holding it first time in 1991.
The championship organising committee allocated a prize money of
$13,500 for the event while Saleh pocketed $7,000 along with a
winner's trophy.
Saleh, representing Pakistan, reached the final of the world
amateur snooker championship in China in 2003 but lost to India's
Pankaj Advani.
PBSF president Alamgir Shaikh was very happy and satisfied over
the success of the event.
"We planned and finally we did it. I hope its success would bring
other international sports events and players to Pakistan in
future," he said.
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