Muhammad Junaid Muhammad Lafir (27 May 1930 - 26 April 1981) also known as either Mohammed Lafir or M J M Lafir was a Sri Lankan
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
player.
He won the IBSF Amateur World Championship in 1973 and is regarded as the greatest snooker player of Sri Lanka.
Biography
Muhammad Lafir was born on 27 May 1930 in
Grandpass, a suburb of
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
, at St. Joseph's Street. He had two brothers and a sister in his family. He studied at
Hameediah Boys English School (now known as Hameed Al Husseinie College). He died on 26 April 1981 at his own house.
Career
Lafir learnt the game of billiards and pursued his interest in the sport at the age of seven through his father S. L. M. Junaid. His father was a domestic snooker player who has played in friendly domestic tournaments and it inspired Lafir to take up the sport. He initially learnt to play billiards on his family dining table very often with his father using a
broomstick as a cue and
marbles
A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate. These toys can be used for a variety of games called marbles, as well being placed in marble runs or races, or created as a form of art. They are ofte ...
a cue balls.
He joined the Moors Islamic Cultural Home in 1947 and played friendly tournaments representing it. Lafir also took part in Sri Lankan National Billiards Championships and won his first national snooker championship in 1948. He then reigned the Sri Lanka National Snooker Championship from 1952 to 1973, winning 16 successive tournaments. He also then participated in the Indian Snooker Championship and won it on seven occasions (1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1974–75 and 1976). He managed to defeat Indian national champion
Chandra Hirjee in the 1956 and 1957 Indian Snooker Championship finals. A renowned businessman
U. W. Sumathipala came forward to assist Lafir in terms of financial needs after watching him scoring 500 break points in a domestic friendly game. Sumathipala assisted him to take part in overseas International competitions and Lafir also took part in friendly tours organised and sponsored by U. W. Sumathipala's son Jagath Sumathipala. Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike also supported Lafir and gave financial assistance in order to take part in international competitions.
Lafir also competed at Amateur World Championships and he finished 3rd on his debut World Championships in
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
which was held in
Calcutta
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
. He finished at fourth position in the
1966 World Amateur Snooker Championship. He also emerged as runners-up to England's
Leslie Driffield at the 1967 IBSF World Billiards Championship. He again finished at third position at the
1968 World Amateur Snooker Championship and finished fourth place in the 1971 World Amateur Championship.
Lafir became the world champion in
billiards
Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...
in December
1973 World Amateur Billiards Championship by defeating Satish Mohan of India in the finals held in
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
.
He had an outstanding unbeaten run in the 1973 tournament winning all nine matches and remained unbeaten in the tournament. He defeated
Clive Everton
Clive Harold Everton (7 September 1937 – 27 September 2024) was an English sports commentator, journalist, author and professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded '' Snooker Scene'' magazine, which was first published (as ...
,
Michael Ferreira, Lu Demarco, Alfred Nolan, Eric Simmons, Brian Kirkness, Phil Tarrant and
Paul Mifsud in the round robin and preliminary rounds to reach his second IBSF finals and went onto defeat Sathish Mohan in the final. During the tournament, in a match against New Zealand's Eric Simmons he created a world record for highest break in a single set with 859 points.
It also remained as the only world championship title won by him. Lafir became the first Sri Lankan to win a billiards world championship and still remains as the only Sri Lankan to have won a billiards world championship title.
This was also the first time that a Sri Lankan has won a world championship title in any form of sports competition.
However he wasn't able to defend his world title in the next World Championships in 1974 eventually being knocked out in the quarterfinals. He later served as an employee for
Sri Lanka Transport Board
The Sri Lanka Transport Board (Tamil language, Tamil: இலங்கை போக்குவரத்து சபை "Ilaṅkai pōkkuvarattu capai")(Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩල ...
after retiring from professional billiards.
Honours
Lafir was acknowledged by the ministers of the then government following his triumph at the 1973 World Championships. He was given a special red carpet welcome gesture on 22 December 1973 at the
Katunayake International Airport following his way return to Sri Lanka after taking part in the competition. On 31 December 1973, he was accorded with civic reception by the mayor of
Colombo Municipal Council
The Colombo Municipal Council is the municipal governing body of Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of Colombo, and elected 119 municipal councilors. The council was f ...
,
Vincent Perera.
Government of Sri Lanka
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...
honoured his achievements by issuing a national stamp with his face appearing on the front side.
After his death, on his 53rd birthday anniversary Messenger Street which is one of the prominent places in Sri Lanka was renamed as MJM Lafir Mawatha. MJM Lafir Asian Snooker was also introduced after him in 1988 in memory and remembrance of him.
See also
*
List of Sri Lankans by sport
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafir, Muhammad
1930 births
1981 deaths
Sri Lankan snooker players
World champions in English billiards
Sri Lankan Muslims
Sportspeople from Colombo