Renowned Pakistani cueist, Mohammad Asif, has become the first Pakistani to graduate on the professional snooker tour.
Who is Mohammad Asif?
Mohammad Asif is a Pakistani snooker player who represents Pakistan in different international tournaments. He is a two-time winner of the amateur IBSF World Snooker Championship. In 2022 he turned professional.
Asif achieved the feat as he beat fellow Pakistani, Asjad Iqbal, in the semi-final of the inaugural Asia-Oceania Q School event in Bangkok, Thailand.
Asif will now face Thailand’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon in the final of the tournament. Both the players have earned themselves a place in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons of the world snooker tour. The event was open to anyone resident in Asia and Oceania, with an entry fee of £400.
Asif currently is one of the top amateur snooker players in the world. It must be noted that Asif has won the IBSF World Snooker Championship title twice, in 2012 and 2019, in the past.
The World Snooker tour is a professional snooker tour that consists of the world’s top 128 players competing in up to 28 tournaments every season.
Other Pakistani cueists will get another opportunity to qualify for the world snooker tour as the second part of the Asia-Oceania Q School tournament will commence right after the ongoing tournament. The finalists of the next tournament will also qualify for the professional snooker tour.
15 cueists from Pakistan are participating in the Q School events with Shoaib Arif as manager. Naseem Akhtar, Asjad Iqbal, Hamad Asif, Hamza Akbar, Haris Tahir, Muhammad Shahbaz, Ahsan Javed, Mubashir Raza, Umar Khan, Azhar Khan, Mani Memon, and Umar Memon are the other 12 Pakistani cueists who have an opportunity to qualify for the final and take part in the world snooker tour.
