NEW DELHI, Mar 5:
India’s reluctance to travel to Karachi for a snooker series over security fears won’t affect the relationship between the two nations as a four-member Pakistan team will visit Indore to participate in the Asian U-21 Snooker Championship, PBSA chief Alamgir A Shaikh said.
“A four-member team will definitely travel to India for the Asian U-21 snooker from April 1 to 7. The current turn of events will not affect our relationship with the Indian counterparts,” Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association president Shaikh told from Karachi.
“We will soon submit our players’ visa applications to the Indian Embassy in Islamabad and are confident of getting it in coming weeks.
“We have got the invitation from the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS). Mohammad Majid and Hamza Akbar are the two players while the 1994 IBSF World Snooker Champion Muhammad Yousaf will be the coach and Javed Karim as manager. The team will be reaching Mumbai via flight either on March 28 or 29,” Shaikh added.
India and Pakistan yesterday postponed their snooker series planned for this week over security situation in the host city Karachi, following a bomb attack on Sunday.
At least 48 people, including women and children, were killed and 140 injured when two powerful blasts ripped through a Shia-dominated area of the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, the latest in a string of attacks targeting the minority sect.
Talking about the cancelled tour, scheduled from March 7-10, Shaikh said it was an “unfortunate” decision and elaborate security arrangement had been put in place for the resumption of snooker ties between the two countries after a gap of eight years. (PTI)
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