Valika delighted by talent shown during National Snooker C’ship

KARACHI: Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) chairman Ali Asghar Valika has expressed his delight at the creation of a new record of century breaks during the Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship, which concluded here at the Karachi Gymkhana over the weekend.

“The record number of century breaks certainly reflects the rise in the standard of snooker in our country,” the PBSA Chairman reckoned while talking exclusively to ‘The News’ here on Monday. "It’s very heartening to watch as many as 29 century breaks being compiled by the cueists during the recent National Championship. In the past we hardly had 20 centuries," he added.

Having led the PBSA with distinction for two decades during which snooker was transformed from being just another sport to the one for the masses, Valika hailed the enormous talent with which the country has been blessed. “The youngsters are delivering the goods in snooker and they are giving the seasoned campaigners a run for their money. All the four semi-finalists of the recently held Nationals gave very impressive account of themselves and they were made to work extremely hard for their victories,” the PBSA chairman remarked.

“Muhammad Bilal, the eventual winner, proved himself as the best of the lot in this event and he thoroughly deserved to be crowned as the national champion once more. Asjad Iqbal also played exceptionally well but, by his own admission, he was overawed in the final and paid the price,” Valika said.

“Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Ali Haider, who went down fighting in the semi-finals, were also in wonderful form throughout the competition. I could see Zulfiqar putting pressure on the brilliant Bilal but the former was unable to sustain the early supremacy. The 20-year-old Ali Haider also showed flashes of brilliance before being outwitted by his experienced rival,” he said.

The PBSA Chairman was confident that with the rise in the standard of snooker Pakistan would be able to bring home more laurels from international competitions if the cueists were taken care of in the desired manner and provided the guidance and support they deserved.