Asif retains NBP snooker trophy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Seventh seed Mohammad Asif successfully defended his title by outsmarting fourth seeded Mohammad Bilal in the final of the eighth edition of NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2016 at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi on August 22.

The 34-year-old Asif, a former world champion hailing from Faisalabad, overpowered Bilal, the 30-year-old reigning national champion from Mandi Bahauddin, 8-3 in the all-Punjab best of 15-frame final with the scores of 64-56, 5-88, 44-69, 72-34, 62-49, 60-18, 130-1, 69-36, 83-5, 29-72, 107-32. 

The enigmatic Asif succeeded in extending his winning record against the mercurial Bilal, who had looked impeccable in the earlier matches including the semifinals the other day. 

Asif opened his account by pocketing the closely fought first frame. Bilal responded strongly by taking the next couple of frames, firing a break of 61 in the third frame. It was Asif all the way after that as he won the next five frames on a trot to shoot into 7-2 lead. It included a break of 62 in the fifth frame and one of 130 in the seventh frame. 

Fighting a lost cause, Bilal secured the 10th frame rather handsomely but it could not change the course of the proceedings as Asif wrapped up the issue in the 11th frame. 

Cash awards of Rs 150,000 were disbursed in the prize distribution ceremony, held soon after the conclusion of the final, in which Mudassir H Khan, SEVP & Group Chief, Commercial, Retail Banking Group, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), was the chief guest.

He presented a cash award of Rs 60,000, alongwith the winner trophy, to Asif while Bilal received a purse of Rs 35,000 with the runner-up trophy. 

The losing semifinalists, Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir and Mohammad Sajjad, had to be content with Rs 15,000 each while the losing quarter-finalists, Babar Masih, Shahram Changezi, Sharjeel Mahmood and Mohammad Ijaz, were compensated with Rs 5,000 each. 

Sharjeel of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also claimed the cash award of Rs 5,000 for the highest break of the championship (140) which he had chalked up during the course of his 4-1 victory over the eventual champion, Asif, in the preliminary rounds. 

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), in his welcome speech, acknowledged the contribution of all the stake-holders in making the eight-day event another success story. 

Ovais Asad Khan, heading the Strategic Marketing and CSR divisions of NBP, appreciated the improvement in the standard of snooker in Pakistan over the years and hoped that the cueists will bring more glories for the country in future. 

Talking briefly to the media, after retaining the NBP trophy, Asif admitted that he has had to endure additional pressure because of the high expectations whenever he has gone to the table after the World Championship triumph in 2012. 

�Obviously it�s not always possible to meet the expectations. After all the opponents of mine also come to the table for glories and they give their shot to it. I try my level best to keep delivering,� he remarked. 

�Yes I do enjoy a kind of psychological advantage over Bilal, having beaten him a few times. That helped today as well. He is an outstanding cueist in his own right but somehow he�s unable to do it when playing against me,� Asif reckoned. 

The former world champion was full of praise, however, for Zulfiqar and Sharjeel for having fared superbly against him. 

Bilal, a man of few words, conceded that the rub of the green didn�t go his way in the final unlike in the semifinal against Sajjad the other day. 

�Hard work holds the key to success. Today was not my day but I will continue working hard to come up with better results in future,� he added. 

A total of 27 top cueists of the country had entered the championship whose preliminary round matches witnessed innumerable upsets which continued in the knockout phase too.

8th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship from August 15

By Syed Khalid Mahmood
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The top 24 cueists of the country, along with a couple of most promising juniors, will be taking part in the eighth edition of NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2016 to be played at the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi from August 15 to 22.

The details of the eight-day event were unveiled by Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) and Ovais Asad Khan, Executive Vice President, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), in a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on August 10. 

The participating 26 cueists have been divided in four groups for the preliminary rounds which will be spread over five days. The winners and the runners-up of each group will qualify for the knockout rounds, starting with quarter-finals. 

The league matches will be best of seven-frame contests while the quarter-finals will be of best of nine frames. The semifinals will be best of 11-frame duels with the final to be a best of 15-frame affair. 

Both the semifinals as well as the final will be telecast live on Geo Super, the premier sports television channel of the country. 

The championship will be offering prize money of Rs 150,000 with the winner to take home Rs 60,000 and the runner-up to receive Rs 35,000. The losing semifinals will be getting Rs 15,000 each while the losing quarter-finalists will be compensated with Rs 5,000 each. The highest break also carries a purse of Rs 5,000. 

Speaking on the occasion, Alamgir Shaikh acknowledged the support of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the NBP in the development of snooker while also making a mention of other sponsors.

�The institutional support of PSB and NBP in particular has helped enormously in boosting cue sports over the last eight years. The decision of NBP to employ the cueists in its folds gave us a sort of lifeline,� the PBSA President noted. 

�Geo Super, by televising the semifinals and the finals of literally every national ranking tournament over the years, has played a massive role in popularizing snooker all over the country,� he added. 

Ovais Asad Khan, heading the Strategic Marketing and CSR divisions of NBP, pledged to continue supporting the cause of sports in general and snooker in particular. 

�We are carrying forward the mission of our predecessors of producing champions. Besides sponsoring national competitions, we have had the policy of grooming the young talent in the field of sports who have gone on to serve the cause of the institution as well as the country with distinction. In the near future, we plan to engage a couple of emerging cueists to reinforce our snooker squad,� he announced. 

To a question of creating more facilities for snooker at the NBP Sports Complex, he informed that a multipurpose stadium for indoor games was being built which will facilitate greater space for cue sports activities. 

Later he presented a cheque of Rupees one million to the PBSA President, being the sponsorship fee of the 8th NBP Ranking Snooker Championship 2016.

CCA revives Inter-Academy Cricket League

By Syed Khalid Mahmood 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Six of the leading academies of the country will be taking part in the second edition of the NBP Inter-Academy Cricket League 2015, being organized by the Customs Cricket Academy (CCA), which will be inaugurated on November 28 with the CCA to take on NBP Cricket Academy in the opening match of the tournament at the NBP Sports Complex, housed in Clifton.

Besides the CCA and NBP Cricket Academy the other participating teams will be from Moin Khan Cricket, Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, PIA Cricket Academy and UBL Cricket Academy. The details about the event, whose inaugural edition was held in 2010, were unveiled by Jalaluddin, a former Test fast bowler and Head Coach of the CCA, in a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on November 28. 

�It�s going to be an Under-19 tournament and the cricketers, born on or after January 10, 1997, will be eligible to take part in it. Only those players registered with the academy will qualify to represent the team. All the participating academies have submitted their 20-member squad to the organizing committee,� Jalaluddin informed. 

�There will be no entry fee for the tournament but a payment of Rs 2,000 will be needed if changes in the squad are desired by any of the participating team. Any player infringing the rules will be debarred from the event and the team will be fined upto Rs 5,000,� he added. 

�Although the tournament will be having limited-overs games with each team to play a maximum of 40 overs, they will have the flavor of four-day matches as well. Second new ball will be available after 30 overs. Similarly batting and bowling points will be awarded as incentives besides crediting nine points for an outright win and six points for a winning draw,� Jalaluddin explained. 

�The idea behind reviving the event is to improve the quality of cricket from grassroots level. Although the tournament is being organized after a gap of five years, now every effort will be made to hold it annually,� he announced. 

The tournament will be spread over six weeks and all its matches will be staged on Saturdays and Sundays in order to facilitate the participating students. 

Khalil Masood, one of the founders of the CCA and a former Chairman of the Corporate Law Authority, expressed his delight with the continued growth of the academy which was established with great fanfare in 1999. 

Nadeem Omar, Managing Director, Omar Associates, emphasized on the significance of grooming young talent and providing them the best possible facilities. He urged the philanthropists to support the sporting activities generously for the sake of the nation. 

Javed Mansha, representing the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), talked about the role of his organization in promoting sports and he hoped that the legacy will live on. 

Owais Asad Khan, Incharge of the Sports & CSR Division of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), vowed to continue supporting the cause of sports in the same manner as his worthy predecessor. He also threw light on the significance of educating the athletes to let them become more successful in their careers. 

Prominent among the former cricketers present on the occasion included batting great Sadiq Mohammad, Azeem Hafeez, Sajid Ali, Anwar-ul-Haq, Sagheer Abbas, Athar Laeeq and Jawwad Ali.