ISLAMABAD - The talented sportsmen of Pakistan prove that their country does not lag behind in this sphere, as they keep the green-and-white flag high across the globe in various sports events. Shahram Changazi, a top-ranked snooker player, is one of the examples. He was Pakistan's no 1 snooker player in 2007 and 2008 as he beat ex-world snooker champion Muhammad Yousuf and ex-Asian champion Saleh Muhammad. In an exclusive talk with TheNation from England on Sunday, Shahram said: "On my wish and keeping in view the talent, former DG Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Brig (Retd) Arif Siddiqui had built a snooker lodge and Pakistan Olympic Association President Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Arif Hassan, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Sports Trust, had gifted four English snooker tables to this lodge. Shahram proved his worth in the first NBP Snooker Championship in 2007 beating the ex-world snooker champion Muhammad Yousuf by five frames to two. In 2010 Asian Games, in an important team event match while representing Pakistan snooker team, he beat ex-world snooker champion of Hong Kong Marco Fu to help Pakistan reach the semi-final of the Asian Games snooker event and Pakistan won the bronze medal. Keeping in view excellent performance, Shahram send his entry for professional Circuit (Cue school) in Sheffield (England) on Pakistan Snooker Association President Alamgir Sheikh's strong recommendation. Former federal sports minister Ijaz Hussain Jakrani, former secretary sports Aziz Bilour and DG PSB bear the expenses of Shahram for taking part in that particular event. Shahram performed excellently in England and managed to beat China's Zhang Anda in the Cue School professional circuit match. Now he has send entry to participate in four more Players Tour Championship (PTC) tournaments out of which three will be played in England and one in Germany. These tournaments will start from today and will continue till August 31. Shahram needs qualified and professional coaches to do well in these tournaments. For his three months stay and coaching, Shahram needs at least Rs 1.6 million and the amount is not easy for Shahram to arrange. To help him achieve his goals and bring fame to Pakistan, he has appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Federal Minister For Sports, Rawalpindi-Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, Pakistan Olympic Association and all other leading multi-national entities to help him fulfil his dream of being the world snooker champion and raise his country's flag high across the globe. Shahram has a very bright snooker future ahead. It is the moral and national duty of President and Prime Minister to sanction a special grant for him. Investment for a player like him will almost guarantee medals for Pakistan in near future in the sport.