World amateur champ Asif to go professional

KARACHI: World amateur snooker champion Mohammad Asif announced Monday that he will go professional next year after getting $20,000 in sponsorship from an entrepreneur.

The 31-year-old Pakistani won the amateur title in Bulgaria last year and had been waiting since for cash assistance to fulfil his childhood dream of joining the professional circuit.

That ambition will be realised after entrepreneur Nadeem Omar stumped up two million rupees ($20,000).

An "overwhelmed" Asif says he will now defend his title in Latvia in November before going pro.

Omar said he came to know about Asif's plight through the media.

"Since he deserved that after winning the world title, I decided to give him his due," Omar, chief executive of Omar Associates, told reporters.

Omar also finances local cricket teams in Pakistan.

Asif is Pakistan's second world amateur snooker champion after Mohammad Yousuf won the title in 1994. (AFP)