Week-long meet is taking place in Bengaluru
BENGALURU: Three Pakistani cueists - Ahsan Ramzan, Muhammad Hasnain and Muhammad Hamza Illyas - were forced to pull out of the IBSF World Junior Snooker Championships after their NOCs from the ministry of external affairs (MEA) arrived just 48 hours before the start of the tournament. The delay forced the trio and four officials to withdraw from the week-long event.
Sport has often borne the brunt of the troubled political ties between India and Pakistan and the cueists are the latest to be hit by it. Last year, when India hosted the 50-overs ICC World Cup, the Pakistan cricket team was left on tenterhooks until the eleventh hour.
The deadline for the entries was July 20, with a week's extension, and the Pakistan cueists had registered in time. Back home, the Pakistani players practised and waited patiently for the visa, but were left disappointed as they realised it would be a race against time to get to Bengaluru in time for Saturday's opening day's action.
Asked about the withdrawal, BSFI president S Balasubramanium told TOI: "A clearance letter from our external affairs ministry went to them on Thursday and they were approved by the ministry (in Pakistan) in the night," he said.
IBSF vice-president Jim Leacy admitted that Pakistan players have had visa issues not just in India but elsewhere in the world too. "Players from Pakistan have faced problems and it is not just about India. They didn't get a visa for an event in Poland recently. I feel sorry for them. They have very good players but unfortunately they get caught in issues which are beyond sports."
ENGLAND & CHINA STAY AWAY
Meanwhile, players from England and China have decided to stay away from the twin events taking place in Bengaluru.
Dwelling on their absence, Leacy said: "England and China want their players to become professional. Since there is no ticket to the professional circuit from this tournament, they did not want to participate. They encourage their players to play in the qualifying tournaments for the professional circuit and fund those tournaments instead of IBSF events."
