Valika felicitates Bilal for winning 10-red tournament

KARACHI: Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) chairman Ali Asghar Valika has felicitated Pakistan’s Muhammad Bilal for winning the inaugural ACBS Asian Tour 10-Red Snooker Tournament in Doha.

“It’s really heartening to have a Pakistani cueist win such a prestigious tournament. It augurs well for the future of cue sports in Pakistan,” he observed in a brief conversation with ‘The News’ here on Monday.

After successful launch of World Team Cup of Snooker, the International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) and the ACBS have jointly introduced the new format of 10-Reds Snooker. The new format is being played in a series of three championships.

The first event in this regard was staged at the QBSF Snooker Academy in Doha from September 26 to 29. It was clinched by one of Pakistan’s premier cueists, Muhammad Bilal, who earned a handsome purse of $12,000 with the trophy.

The Pakistani cueist was absolutely brilliant in the final as he outplayed Brendan O’Donoghue of Ireland 6-1 with the frame scores of 46-42, 36-48, 47-1, 67-1, 54-23, 55-0, 59-4.A total of 24 cueists were invited for this year’s Ranking Tour, six belonging to Asia, two each from Europe, Africa and Oceania and two cueists from each host country.The total prize money in each championship will be $40,000 with the winner to receive $12,000 and the runner-up to get $6,000.