ISLAMABAD, Jun 06 (APP): Pakistan teenage cueist Ahsan Ramzan will compete in World Games, scheduled to be staged from July 7 to 17, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
“Yes, I’ll be representing my country at the quadrennial sports extravaganza [The World Games]. It’s a big honour for me to vie at such a big platform,” Ahsan told APP on Monday.
Ahsan shot to stardom in March, this year when at 16 he became the youngest IBSF world champion after outclassing seasoned Amir Sarkosh of Iran in the final in Doha. “It was after that feat that I qualified for The World Games,” said.
At The World Games, he is set to feature in the snooker discipline’s 15-Reds Men category wherein 15 other topnotch cueists from around the world will also be trying their luck. “The competition is going to be very tough as the best of the best from around the world will be vying in it.
“But I’m up for the challenge. I’m working hard on my physical fitness. I’ll be trying to do which no one has done in the past [to win a gold medal for my country],” he added.
Pakistan has been participating in various disciplines of the multi-sports event since its inaugural edition in 1981 but so far managed to win only one medal when cueist Shokat Ali finished third in snooker’s Men’s Category at the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan to claim bronze.
Muhammad Bilal, another snooker prodigy from Pakistan chipped in the 15-Reds Mixed category at The World Games 2017, Wroclaw, Poland but remained unable to impress as he ended 9th in the event.
The Lahore-born cueist said, he was thankful to Pakistan Billiard and Snooker Association (PBSA) for continuously supporting him. “It is due to the constant support and encouragement of the PBSA that I became world champion. They’ve been supporting me financially for my foreign trips and once again are fully funding my participation in The World Games.
“I’ll be trying to live up to the expectations and doing my best to make history. But for that I need my nation’s prayers,” he said.
The 11th edition of the Games, originally planned for 2021, was postponed to 2022 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Games celebrated their première in 1981 in Santa Clara, California, and now, a little more than 40 years later, they return to the USA. Around 3,600 athletes from 34 sport disciplines and over 100 countries will be competing for 223 medals in The World Games.
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