Muhammad Ikram can play the white ball precisely with his chin.
Photo: AFP / Aamir Qureshi
Muhammad Ikram is lying face down on the snooker table, his eyes fixed on the target. His face slowly approaches the green felt, he tilts his head and pushes the white cue ball with his chin and unexpected force in the direction of the targeted ball. The spectators are amazed, the red one clicks in his pocket and Muhammad Ikram, the armless snooker player, is looking for a color to continue his break.
The 32-year-old is on his way to becoming a celebrity in Pakistan. The media is raging around him and Ikram is enjoying the attention. He is only too happy to tell his story, which began in a poor family between eight siblings in the town of Samundri with a longing: the longing for the game with the 15 red balls that British officers once brought into the country. “In the beginning I just watched the other players and wondered if I would play if I had arms,” says Ikram. So he secretly began to practice poking the bullets across the empty table with his chin. His parents wanted to forbid him, they were afraid for their son, club owner Muhammad Nadeem was certain: “You can’t do that!”
But Muhammad Ikram is not so easy to drive away, he refined his technique, the twist he gave the ball and the speed come from the neck. He has already won three local tournaments and even earns a little money with his passion. His opponents play with the cue, he with his face. “If there is anyone out there who plays like me, I would be ready to play him,” says Ikram.
He would like to prove his skills abroad, too, now that he is already a little Internet notoriety, the chances shouldn’t be that bad. Ikram himself has no idea what this social media actually is. He only knows one thing: “I’m going to be famous.” He has already covered part of the way – with the persistence with which he once mastered the twelve-kilometer route to the snooker center. There and back again. Every day.
For club boss Nadeem, Muhammad Ikram is “a real sportsman” and the star of the snooker community in Samundri no longer has to pay if he wants to train. “Instead, people pay him to play against them,” says Nadeem. “He has no competition in this sport. There are disabled players in cricket or football, but he is unique in snooker. ” SID/nd
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