Pakistan’s top cueists gear up for IBSF World Snooker Championship 2025

By Syed Khalid Mahmood 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The fancied quintet of Shahid Aftab, Muhammad Sajjad, Asjad Iqbal, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Hasnain Akhtar will represent Pakistan in the IBSF World Snooker Championships (Men) 2025, scheduled to be played at Doha, Qatar, from November 3 to 13.

Naved Kapadia, Secretary, Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), will be accompanying the squad as a delegate. He will also be in action as one of the referees in the mega event. 

The practice session and training camp for the Qatar-bound Pakistani cueists is being held at the Jahangir Khan Sports Complex in Karachi. The trainees could be seen in action from 10 am to 5 pm, gearing up for the upcoming global event. 

The PBSA officials are hopeful that the participating cueists will be successful in winning laurels for the country. They reckon that the selected players have the experience as well as the skillset to bring home more trophies.

Meanwhile, the PBSA has announced that Muhammad Asif has directly qualified for last 48 by virtue of being the defending champion while Asjad Iqbal, who advanced to the last 16 knockout round last year, and Muhammad Hasnain Akhtar, the reigning world U-17 champion, have also directly qualified for last 48. 

Shahid Aftab and Muhammad Sajjad, the other two Pakistani cueists, will be appearing in the qualifying round last 64.

Muhammad Yousuf, it may be recalled, was the first Pakistani to win the World Championship in 1994 while Muhammad Asif won his maiden world crown in 2012.