KARACHI: It was a bittersweet moment for Ahsan Ramzan earlier this month as a crowd gathered around him after he became the youngest winner in history of the World Snooker Championship.
For 16-year-old Ramzan, the March 11 victory at the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) event was incomplete without his father who raised him after he lost his mother in early childhood, and who until his death four years ago remained the snooker player’s greatest inspiration and strictest mentor.
“If my parents were alive today, I would have given them the trophy,” Ramzan told Arab News in an interview. “They would have hugged me in excitement, which would have been a huge moment for me.”
“Now, I will take this trophy and put it on their graves,” he said. “I want them to know their dream has come true.”
Ahsan Ramzan, youngest winner in history of the World Snooker Championship, poses for a picture with his trophy in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 20, 2022 (AN Photo)
The youngest of six siblings, Ramzan’s father always pushed him to concentrate on his studies and it was only later that he began to support his dream of becoming a professional snooker player. At one point, Ramzan remembered being sent by his family to buy milk but going instead to a billiard club. When his father found him there a few hours later, he was so furious he started beating him with a cue.
But years later, Ramzan said, the same man would force his son to leave him on the deathbed and participate in a national championship.
“It was devastating,” he said, recalling how he had to rush back from the tournament after learning that his father had passed away. “That was not less than doomsday for me.”
After their father’s death, Ramzan’s brothers gave him an ultimatum: join the family poultry business, resume education or risk losing financial support. The boy chose snooker and thus left Karachi to live with his sister in Lahore.
“So many times, it happened that I had to go for a match and I didn’t tell anyone and would go by foot and come back,” Ramzan said, speaking about his time in Lahore where his snooker club was an hour’s walk away from his sister’s home.
If these hardships weren’t enough, the pandemic too almost broke the teenager’s spirit after he twice missed junior international events postponed due to the coronavirus.
But he was third time lucky and qualified for the senior international level.
Before reaching the finals, however, Ramzan had to face two-time world champion Muhammad Asif.
“It was an honor to face him as he was a Pakistani player and a two-time champion,” he said. “I said that until I didn’t beat a champion, I couldn’t become a champion.”
After beating Asif, Ramzan went on to defeat accomplished Iranian cueist Amir Sarkosh to win the world title.
Now, he is eyeing more international games and hopes to win even bigger for Pakistan.
“I will participate in world games ... I will bring something for Pakistan in future tours and championships,” Ramzan said.
“Any player who doesn’t have hunger, I believe he can do nothing. I have immense hunger.”
