Habib on cue

SNOOKER ace Habib Sabah Habib, who recently represented the kingdom in the World Games in the US, is now cueing up to take on the best players in Asia and the Gulf in top competitions.

The World Games, an 11-day multi-sport extravaganza organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee, ended on Sunday.

The event staged in Birmingham featured 3,600 elite athletes from more than 100 countries, competing for gold in 30 of the fastest growing sports around the globe.

The 39-year-old from Isa Town was the only Bahraini to qualify for the snooker category after winning the West Asian Snooker Championship, the Arab Snooker Championship and reaching the quarter-finals of both the Asian and World Championships.

“I’m very proud to represent my country at such a big event and to be among only 16 players from around the world selected to compete. It was a learning experience and although I didn’t win a medal I hope to qualify again in four years’ time and try again.”

Habib practices six-days-a-week for a few hours and before tournaments switches it up to practice for four-to-six-hours-a-day ‘to be sharp and ready’.

“My next tournaments this year include the Gulf Championship in Qatar next month, the Arab Championship and the West Asian Championship, which will hopefully be staged in Bahrain in October followed by the World Championships in November in Türkiye,” he added.

Habib thanked Supreme Council for Youth and Sports (SCYS) first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority (GSA) chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa for his unlimited support, as well as the BOC and the GSA.

“I also want to thank the president of Bahrain Billiards, Snooker and Darts Federation, Munther Albasri, my family and friends,” he added. “Without their support, I couldn’t have achieved so much in snooker ... and there’s so much more to come!”

Over the years, Habib has notched numerous trophies and medals and is convinced that he can improve.

“I was the first player from the Middle East and Arab world to win a medal in the Snooker World Championships in Holland in 2004,” he said. “I was also the first player from the Middle East and Arab world to win a bronze medal in the Snooker Asian Championships in Jordan, the same year, and became an Arab Games gold medallist in 2011.”

He has also achieved 147 break (points) in an official snooker match, the bronze in a Thailand Masters Snooker Championship, 20 medals in championships across the region of which five are gold, nine silver and six bronze and 17 medals in Arab championships of which five are gold, three silver and nine bronze.

His other achievements include six medals in West Asian championships, bagging more than 60 international medals in snooker and billiards, winner of more than 50 local tournaments organised by the Bahrain Billiards, Snooker and Darts Federation and being the second Arabian player to qualify for a professional tour.

His most recent achievements include golds in the Arab Championship in 2019 and again in 2022 in Egypt.

“I started playing snooker at the age of 12 when my dad, Sabah, was an amateur player,” said Habib. “He used to play almost every night and he would take me to the snooker club during my school holidays.

“I loved the game immediately and he started to teach me how to play. From then on, I was keen and practiced whenever I got the chance. In 1998, I was invited to join the national team after securing a few good local results.”

For the uninitiated, in snooker there are 15 red and six coloured balls and one cue ball. The player has to pot a red first, then a colour, and again a red, and so on. At the end of the frame the player with the most points wins.

Each red carries 1 point, yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6 and black 7. The six coloured balls are put back on the table but not the reds. When the reds are over, the other colours are potted in the ascending order of the value of their points.