Saleh Mohammad Saleh (born 24 February 1973) is a former professional

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 from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He represented Pakistan between 1988 and 2006. He reached the final of the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2003 and won two medals at 2002 Asian Games.

Life and career

He was born in Afghanistan and lived as a refugee among the

Afghans in Pakistan Afghans in Pakistan (, , ) are temporary residents from Afghanistan, some of who are registered in Pakistan as refugees and asylum seekers. The registered fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). ...

. He began representing Pakistan in 1988 as an international snooker player. Saleh turned pro in 1995, but lost his place after just one season. In 2003, he reached the finals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship by winning 14 consecutive matches, but lost 5–11 against Pankaj Advani. At the cue sports competitions of the 2002 Asian Games, he won two bronze medals in doubles and team category. At the 2008 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, Mohammad compiled a

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a onefourseven) is the highest possible in snooker in normal circumstances and is a special type of . A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, fo ...

against Nguyen Nhat Thanh. At the end of the same year, he decided to retire in protest, because he "couldn't bear such injustice where cricketers were showered with cash awards on normal victories" and he "wasn't given anything." In November 2010, after moving back to Afghanistan, Saleh told the

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

, "I want to give back something to my country and the only way I can do this is to assist Afghanistan's development in

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

, particularly in snooker as that is what I am good at." He represented Afghanistan at the 2012 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship, reaching the quarter-finals, and at the 2012 Six-red World Championship, reaching the last 32. In the Jubilee Insurance 29th Asian Snooker Championship, he decisively beat his Pakistani, Mongolian and Iranian rivals. On 19 June 2013, World Snooker announced that Mohammad didn't confirm his intention to compete in the Main Tour, and was replaced by Ratchayothin Yotharuck.

Performance and rankings timeline

Amateur finals: 8 (4 titles)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Saleh 1973 births Living people Afghan snooker players Pakistani snooker players Asian Games medalists in cue sports Asian Games bronze medalists for Pakistan Cue sports players at the 2010 Asian Games Cue sports players at the 2006 Asian Games Cue sports players at the 2002 Asian Games Afghan emigrants to Pakistan Cue sports players at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games