Cricket is by far Pakistan's most popular game, but snooker holds an important place in the country's sporting scene. 'I become famous,' Ikram said, though he confessed to having no idea what social media is. His skills quickly turned him into something of an internet celebrity among Pakistan's snooker-playing fraternity. (AFP Photo) Worried he might injure himself, Ikram's parents initially barred him from snooker for several years, but last year they allowed him to return to the sport. 'Chalk your chin,' one of them quipped after Ikram eventually missed a shot. He 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. 'Gradually, I improved my game and started playing with others.' Ikram can now challenge the best players in town. 'In the beginning, I used to push the balls by myself on an empty pool table,' Ikram said. As a teenager, he started to watch players in the local snooker hall and was inspired to start practising 'in secret'. Born into a poor home, he and his eight siblings did not go to school and he spent much of his childhood feeling isolated.

If there is a player like me, I am ready to face him', Ikram told AFP during a recent visit to the snooker hall in the small town of Samundri in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. 'It is a tough job that requires hard work.

The 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. SAMUNDRI ( Pakistan): Muhammad Ikram, who was born without arms, steps up to a snooker table, sizes up his options and with a firm flick of his chin strikes the cue ball and slots a red into a corner pocket.

Snookar Game