Doha: Muhammad Asif of Pakistan, the reigning world champion in the amateur category, is aiming to graduate to the professional class.
The 31-year-old, winner of the 6-Red Asian Snooker championship in Qatar on Monday, disclosed that his next big leap is to turn professional.
Asif, a member of the Pakistan team which is taking part in the Asian Team championship which began on Tuesday, informed that a few things regarding sponsorship need to be sorted out.
“I need to sort out a few things regarding my sponsorship. If that is sorted out, I am ready to give it a try. I will have to go to England and participate in one of the qualifying tournaments organised by Q School. If I win, God Willing, then it will be great for me, my country and for the game in my country. It is not easy to qualify. But, I will give it a try,” said Asif, who hails from Faisalabad in Punjab province.
He said that a number of sponsors have been in the forefront in promoting the game in Pakistan.
“I am grateful for my sponsors National Bank of Pakistan, who have been with me for a long time. We need more sponsors like them to promote the game in Pakistan and also in other Asian countries. There is a lot of talent in other Asian countries and if sponsors like National Bank come forward, the talent will get a big boost to win more titles,” he said.
Asif said he winning the world title in 2012 had revived the sport in Pakistan.
“My win in 2012 generated a lot of interest. More people now follow the sport. We have many quality players in Pakistan. There is healthy and tough competition in Pakistan, which has raised the standard of the game,” Asif, who has been representing Pakistan for the last 11 years, said.
Asif won the 2012 IBSF World Amateur Snooker Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, a premier non-professional snooker tournament, by defeating Gary Wilson.
‘Dubbed Undertaker’, for his aggressive style of play, after Mark William Calaway, an American professional wrestler by his friends, Asif wants to connect with fans through a twitter account in the next few days.
“In the next few days, I need open a twitter account,” he said with a smile.
“I need to connect with my friends. I have a Facebook account but now I want to increase the interaction with my fans,” Asif, who also used to play cricket but took up snooker as full-time sport 14 years back, said.
THE PENINSULA
