KARACHI: Pakistan
Billiards and Snooker Association’s (PBSA) Alamgir Sheikh has said that
European countries are reluctant to travel to Pakistan for next year’s World
Championship.
PBSA is expected
to host the championship, which includes 6-Red, ladies event, team
championship, in August 2015 and Sheikh said that the association is working on
getting rid of the feeling of fear among the delegates.
Sheikh is
currently in India for the ongoing IBSF World Championship and is expecting a
positive outcome after the executive meeting of snooker’s world body.
“My main purpose
for traveling to India is to try and get the finalised dates for the World
Championships,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “The month of
August is final so the dates are the only issue. In addition, there are some
reservations among the European countries regarding traveling to Pakistan next
year as per their travel advisory. However, I’ve spoken on a one-to-one basis
with various delegates as we want to host a successful and secure
championship.”
The official
hoped that this issue will be settled after IBSF’s executive body meeting.
Hamza
moves into last-64
Hamza Akbar
bagged his fourth victory in Group C after edging Scotland’s Michael Collumb
4-3, which sealed his progress into the last-64 phase.
The 21-year-old
won with a scoreline of 25-61, 85-14, 81-42, 20-94(90), 60-46, 52-60 and
76-05(56).
Meanwhile,
Muhammad Sajjad, who is already through to the knockout stages, beat Sweden’s
Farhan Mirza in straight frames, conceding only 24 points across the four
frames.
Sajjad, who was a
losing semifinalists in last year’s world championship, triumphed by 67-07,
57-01, 66-09 and 50-07.
On the other
hand, Muhammad Asif Toba also closed in on qualifying for the next stage after
beating Iran’s Soheil Vahedi 4-1 with scores of 35-78(70), 66-56, 67-17,
54-13 and 67-60.
“Asif Toba was
brilliant in a tough match against Vahedi and has played well so far,” said
Sheikh. “But as far as Sajjad and Hamza are concerned, I believe they are yet
to play to their best and hopefully they will improve their play as the event
progresses.”
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