Vahedi to coach Pakistan junior cueists

KARACHI: Soheil Vahedi, a renowned cueist from Iran, has started his stint as the snooker coach of Pakistan by taking up the assignment in Islamabad.

He attended the inauguration ceremony of the coaching camp for the junior cueists of Pakistan at the Snooker Hall of the PSB Sports Complex in the federal capital on Monday.

Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Federal Minister, Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), was the chief guest in the inaugural session in which Hussain Ahmad Madni, Joint Secretary, IPC, Syed Habib Shah, Deputy Director General (Technical), PSB, Mohammad Azam Dar, Director, National Federations, PSB, and Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), were also present.

The eight participating cueists in the national junior camp are Majid Ali (Faisalabad), Harris Tahir (Lahore), Mohammad Umar (Lahore), Muzammil Khan (Karachi), Mohammad Faheem (Sahiwal), Mohammad Saqib (Gujranwala), Abdul Raheem (Rawalpindi) and Abdul Javed (Rawalpindi).

“The PBSA has acquired the services of a foreign coach from Iran,” Alamgir Shaikh said in his welcome speech. “Soheil Vahedi needs no introduction, being one of the leading cueists of the world who has also proved his mettle in the field of coaching. We are honoured to have him as our national coach.

“He is the current World and Asian Team Champion (gold medalist). He has also coached young cueists of Iran who reached the final of the Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship. He is here now to coach Pakistan’s cueists and take them to the top,” the PBSA President added.

“The PBSA is grateful to the PSB and the Ministry of IPC for extending their support to this first-ever National Snooker Training Camp under the supervision of a qualified foreign coach who will be undertaking four quarterly visits during the next one year,” Alamgir Shaikh added.