Pakistani professional
snooker player
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in I ...
who won the 31st Asian Snooker Championship held in
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
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,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 2015. He is also the Pakistan national champion 2015.
Career
Born in
Faisalabad
Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...
city of Pakistan, Akbar is a two-time national snooker champion. Akbar won his first major international title at the age 22, beating
Pankaj Advani of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
7–6 in the final in of Asian Snooker Championship in
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
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, Malaysia in April 2015 to become the third player from
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in 16 years to do so. The title earned him a two-year card for the main snooker tour beginning with the
2015–16 season.
He threatened a comeback from 4–0 against two-time world champion
Mark Williams in the first round of the 2015
UK Championship
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...
, but lost 6–4. He took
Michael Holt to a deciding frame in the opening round of the
Welsh Open and made a break of 52, but was beaten 4–3. His most remarkable performance in his first season on the main tour came at the
World Snooker Championship
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...
where he defeated world number 33
Jamie Jones 10–5 in the first qualifying round, before losing 10–3 to
Ian Burns.
Akbar qualified for the
2016 Indian Open
The 2016 Indian Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 5–9 July 2016 at the HICC Novotel Hotel in Hyderabad, India. It was the second ranking event of the 2016/2017 season.
Hyderabad hosted the event f ...
by overcoming
Chris Wakelin
Chris Wakelin (born 16 March 1992) is an English professional snooker player from Rugby, Warwickshire. He practices in Bar 8 in Rugby.
Career
Early career
Wakelin started playing snooker aged 8, when his parents Mark and Angie bought him his ...
4–1, but withdrew from the event before it began. He received a bye through to the second round of the
Northern Ireland Open and lost 4–2 to
Josh Boileau
Josh Boileau (born 2 July 1995 in Newbridge, County Kildare) is a former Irish professional snooker player. He is the 2016 Under-21 European Snooker Champion.
Career
In 2014 Boileau entered the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships in B ...
. Akbar would have dropped off the tour at the end of the season due to being ranked world number 112, well outside the top 64 who remain, but he received special dispensation and received a new two-year tour card due to his visa problems which have forced him to miss many events in the past.
He practices at
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
Snooker Academy.
Akbar back on tour
Oldham Chronicle, 26 April 2017
Performance and rankings timeline
Career finals
Amateur finals: 4 (3 titles)
References
External links
*
Pakistani snooker champion hasn't been paid - BBC Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbar, Hamza
Living people
Sportspeople from Faisalabad
1993 births
Snooker players from Punjab, Pakistan
Pakistani snooker players