MUSCAT, Dec 8 - The 10-day GCC Billiards and Snooker Championship 2019, hosted for the first time by Oman, came to a grand conclusion late on Saturday. Mohammed Mubarak al Ramzani, President of the GCC Billiard and Snooker Federation said, “We thank Oman for their expertise in handling in the tournament. The atmosphere is great in Oman and we hope to do this again.”
When asked about what the GCC Federation would like to focus on next he said, “Our focus is to bring in the youth to the snookers and billiards. There are challenges such as when the young players finish the training they want to go abroad for further studies or take up other games. But as long as they come back to play it is fine as they already know the game. But we do need to find young players and train them.”
In GCC Snooker Junior 6 Red (Single) held from December 1-4 Khalil Bo Saif (BAH) won the gold, Fahd al Maqbali (OMA) took the silver, Aiman al Omari (KSA) and Bassam al Mashani (OMA) received bronze medals.
In the GCC Snooker Junior (Single) held from December 5-7, Khalil Bo Saif (BAH) once again won the gold and Aiman al Omari (KSA) won silver, Fahad Maqbali (OMA) and Bassam al Mashani (OMA) took bronze medals.
Billiards
In the weekend the 9 Ball Single event was won by Salah al Remawi (UAE) after he beat Waleed Majed (QAT) 11-4 in the final.
On Saturday, the last day of the tournament, the 10 Ball Single title was won by Qatar’s Waleed Majed beating compatriot Bashar Abdul Majed in the race to 9 racks with 9 -2. Bashar al Majed (Qatar) won the silver and bronze was claimed by Bader Al Aaidh and Omar al Shaheen.
GCC Billiards Championship 2019, Oman had series of events commencing from November 28 to December 7.
In the 8 Ball Single, the winners were Abdullah Shammari (KSA) – gold, Waleed Majed (QAT) silver, Bader al Awadi (KUW) and Ibrahim al Qaid (BAH) - bronze.
In the 8 Ball Team, Kuwait won the gold, Qatar won the silver, while UAE and Bahrain got bronze. The 9 Ball Single had Salah al Remawi win Gold, Waleed Majed (QAT) take Silver and Bashar Abdul Majed (QAT) and Abdullah Yusuf (KUW) claim bronze. The 9 Ball Scotch Double was won by Kuwait, Qatar won the silver and UAE and Bahrain won the bronze. Kuwait also won gold for the 9 Ball Team followed by Qatar with silver and Saudi Arabia and UAE took the bronze.
The junior category (under 21) had two events. In the GCC 8 Ball Junior Single, Khaled al Ghamdi (KSA) won the gold, Wesam Ratib (BAH) won silver and Amar al Ajmi along with Omar al Balushi (OMA) won bronze. In GCC 9 Ball Single Junior, Khaled al Ghamdi (KSA) once again picked up gold with Wesam Ratib (BAH) securing silver and Amar al Ajmi and Oman al Balushi with bronze.
SNOOKER
Ali al Obaidli (QAT) won gold in Snooker 6 Red, Habib Subah the silver and Khalid al Kamali (UAE) and Khalil Bo Saif (BAH) won the bronze. The Men’s Snooker 15 Reds Single was won by Mohammed Shehab (UAE), Habib Subah (BAH) came second and Ahmed Saif (QAT) along with Abdul Rehman al Shamsi (UAE) took third place.
The gold in Master Snooker 15 Reds Single went to Essa al Sayed (UAE), silver was grabbed by Nizar al Asiri (KSA), and Saif al Kitabi (UAE) and Ammar Taqi (KUW) won the bronze.
In Men’s Snooker 15 Reds Team, United Arab Emirates won the gold, Qatar won the silver and Saudi Arabia and Bahrain won the bronze.
Meanwhile, the Master Snooker 15 Reds Team gold went to UAE, Qatar picked up the silver and Saudi Arabia and Oman won bronze.
Shehab achieves
highest break
Mohammed Shehab from the UAE won the Men’s Snooker 15 Reds Single and achieved the highest break in the tournament – 132.
Shehab said: “So many top players took part in the tournament and the competition was high and it was better than two years ago.”
When asked about the secret of his consistent winning formula, Shehab said, “It is hard work, it is also experience in dealing with the tough situations.”
Shehab is not a full time snooker player.
“I have work, but it depends on whether I have a tournament or not. If not, I practice a couple of hours a day otherwise I double it.”
On the importance of tactics or the flow of the game, Shehab said, “Both actually, We need tactics to create your own chances and from there if you are good in the other aspect of the game then it is a piece of cake.”
Shehab plans his each shot extensively to that he said, “You cannot just shoot without planning, and if you do, you end up suffering.”
And this is what he has to say to the upcoming young players, “they should take the game seriously and work hard. They should ensure that they have a target whether it is practice or a tournament. I wish them the best.”
Essa al Sayed (UAE) won the Master Single. He said: “Actually it was tough but it feels good when you win the gold. I much appreciate the organisation of the tournament in Oman and the work of the people behind the scene by the Oman Billiard and Snooker Committee. ‘Insha Allah’ (‘God willing’) we will see more from Oman.”
When asked about the amount of hours he dedicates for practice, Essa al Sayed said, “At my age there is a lot of responsibilities such as family, work and business. So, we try to catch up with the training and practicing. I continue to play about two hours daily so it is not too bad.”
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