News Desk
\nIslamabad
\nM. Ikram weighs in his options, he steps up to the snooker table, takes a firm look before he flicks his chin, as he was born with no arms, on the cue ball which sends a red into a corner pocket.
\nThe sport was perhaps an unlikely passion for Ikram, 32, to pursue, but the Pakistani player has spent years honing his skills and can now give anyone at his local snooker hall a run for their money.
\nBorn into a poor home, he and his eight siblings did not go to school and he spent much of his childhood feeling isolated.
\nAs a teenager, he started to watch players in the local snooker hall and was inspired to start practising \u201cin secret\u201d.
\n\u201cIn the beginning, I used to push the balls by myself on an empty pool table,\u201d Ikram said.
\n\u201cGradually, I improved my game and started playing with others.\u201d
\nIkram can now challenge the best players in town.
\nHe demonstrated a range of shots, giving a solid and assured flick of his head to sink reds and then colours into pockets, drawing applause from other players.
\n\u201cChalk your chin,\u201d one of them quipped after Ikram eventually missed a shot.
\nWorried he might injure himself, Ikram\u2019s parents initially barred him from snooker for several years, but last year they allowed him to return to the sport.
\nHis skills quickly turned him into something of an internet celebrity among Pakistan\u2019s snooker-playing fraternity.
\n\u201cI became famous,\u201d Ikram said, though he confessed to having no idea what social media is.
\nCricket is by far Pakistan\u2019s most popular game, but snooker holds an important place in the country\u2019s sporting scene.
\nBritish officers introduced the game during the colonisation of the Indian subcontinent and Pakistan\u00b4s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was a keen player.
\nPakistan keeps no up-to-date statistics on people with disabilities, but non-governmental organisations estimate there to be more than 30 million in a country of about 220 million
\nA lack of a social safety net means the majority of the disabled population stay home.
\nMuhammad Nadeem, who owns the Samundri snooker hall, described Ikram as a \u201ctrue sportsman\u201d.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t charge him for a game. Instead people pay him to play with them,\u201d Nadeem said.
\n\u201cHe has no competition, in cricket and football there are disabled players but when it comes to snooker he is a one-of-a-kind player.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News Desk Islamabad M. Ikram weighs in his options, he steps up to the snooker table, takes a firm look before he flicks his chin, as he was born with no arms, on the cue ball which sends a red into a corner pocket. The sport was perhaps an unlikely passion for Ikram, 32, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n