Renowned cueist, Mohammad Asif, has become the first Pakistani to qualify for a world snooker tour. 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 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.
Asif currently is one of the top amateur snooker players in the world. He has won IBSF World Snooker Championship on two occasions, in 2012 and 2019 while he lost to fellow Pakistani cueist, Ahsan Ramzan, in the semi-final of the 2022 edition.
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.
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.
For the record, he is not the first Pakistani to qualify for the pro tour