KARACHI:
A three-member Pakistan team left for India yesterday for the Asian Snooker Championship with top-seed Mohammad Sajjad hoping luck would side with him in the competition.
Sajjad finished runners-up in last year’s edition after losing to home cueist Issara Kachaiwong in the final. National champion Mohammad Shahid and Imran Shahzad are the other two members. A total of 44 cueists divided into eight groups are taking part in the event to be played in Indore from April 23 to 30.
Meanwhile, Sajjad remained confident ahead of the event.
“We attended a training camp to prepare for the championship,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune.
He said he was hoping for some luck in the tournament.
“I was in supreme form last year but lost rhythm in the final,” he said.
Sajjad who is placed in Group A, heads the seeding and will compete against Mohammed al Joaker (UAE), Ahamed Adnan (Jordan), Ali Nassar al Obaidly (Qatar) and Ahmed Hassan (Iraq) in the group matches.
Shahid is listed in Group C with Yasir Merchant (India), Mohammed al Sheikh (Bahrain), Suyleiman Omar (Jordan) and Hossein Vafeai (Iran) while Shahzad is bracketed in Group F along with Passakorn Suwannawat (Thailand), Kamal Chawla (India), Miceal Angelo (Philippines), Mubarak al Owais (Kuwait) and Eh Heydrainezhadn (Iran).
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2011.