The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Civil war, suicide bombers and some snooker
FOCUSING ON his own match was imperative, but 20-year-old Syrian U-21 champion Abdalkarim Maksod could not help turning his attention to the adjoining table. Not surprising as playing there was 16-time world champion Pankaj Advani.
Maksod’s country hosted the World Snooker Championship in 2010, but Syria has not hosted international players since it was engulfed in war. So the youngster did not want to let go the chance to observe the master from close quarters. “I took a selfie with him last month in Qatar. I was also seeing his shots during my match as we seldom get an opportunity to see players like him in Damascus,” shares Maksod.
He, along with 15-year-old Yazan Alhadad, has come to India along with national coach Basem Aboud to take part in the Asian U-21 Snooker Championship, taking place along with the Asian Billiards Championship. While Syria has more than 5,000 and 300 players of pool and snooker respectively, the conflict has meant the country has not hosted any International event in last six years apart from facing travel bans from some Asian countries.
“Before the conflict, we could travel all over the country and all players played against each other. But the last six years, players from East Syria from cities like Allepo, Tartus and Al Hasakah have not played in the national championships. There were about 4,000 clubs in Syria in 2010 but now only half of them are operational as most of the people have fled the cities. We were set to host the Asian Championships in 2012 but once the conflict started, that did not happen. Last year, we could not play in Abu Dhabi as they did not grant us visa,” coach Basem Aboud told The Indian Express.
The six international pool tables bought for the 2010 world Championships are being used by the Syrian team in Damascus, and Maksod and Alhadad train there under Aboud. While there have been bombings near Damascus, the players train together. Most of them share their training videos with East Syrian players over social media. “About six months ago, a suicide bomber blew himself up in my street. I missed playing for some days as I was in shock. But later my friends came and we started playing. We can hear blasts from around the outer city but we have learned to live with it,” shared Syrian U-17 champion Alhadad.
With the Syrian Snooker Federation assisting the players, the team has not faced any problems in travelling and getting equipment andclothing.withthesyriangovernmenttaking control of Aleppo, some players will take part in the national snooker championship to be held in two months. “The federation has taken care of the players and some of best Syrian players from Aleppo will take part in the national championships soon. Qatar had also given us visa for this month’s Asian Championships. The strife is due to outsiders and if they leave Syria, Syrian people can solve the problem on their own,” asserts the coach.