Alamgir not to contest PBSA election

KARACHI: Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, having completed a couple of successful four-year tenures as the President of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), will not take part in the elections of the national body due to take place on Wednesday.

In accordance with the National Sports Policy, which restrains any official from retaining a position after eight years, Alamgir has not filed nomination for the quadrennial elections.

The PBSA, which is affiliated to the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), has been hailed as one of the best performing sports federations of the country over the years, having produced positive results on a more consistent basis than any other sport.

The new president will be hard pressed to emulate the accomplishments of Alamgir and those of Asghar Valika, who revived the sport in the country in 1988.

Valika not only changed the nomenclature of the governing body of cue sports from the Billiards Association of Pakistan (BAP), which had been dormant for decades, to PBSA, but he also brought about a revolution which resulted in phenomenal growth of snooker all over the country.

In a matter of couple of decades, Pakistan came to be recognised as one of the major snooker nations, enabling it to be a preferential venue for global and continental events.

Valika, whose administrative qualities earned him worldwide acclaim, quit the leadership of the PBSA in 2008.

Alamgir, having worked with him for a long time, sustained the momentum and built a stronger platform for cue sports during the next eight years which witnessed more activities at national and international levels.