Abdul Salem wins bronze at GCC juniors

Dubai: Aged 15 and the youngest player in a UAE contingent heading to Qatar for last week’s U18 GCC Nine-Ball Pool Championships, Abdul Salem Al Beloushi was perhaps the least likely to return from Doha with a medal.

However, the pupil of Mohammad Noor Boys School in Al Rashidiya rounded off a near-perfect international debut to claim bronze, having only lost out in the semi-finals 9-4 to Mishal Al Turqi, an experienced 17-year-old Qatari.

With victory over Saudi’s Mohammad Al Tawaiqi 7-6, Qatar’s Abdul Al Suwaid 7-4 and Saudi’s Mohammad Khamis 7-5, Abdul Salem had already blazed his way into the last four.

Based on this performance, his coach Joven Alba has now entered him into the UAE Nationals Ratings Tournament on September 14, where Abdul Salem will get his first test against senior domestic opposition. After that, there’s this winter’s U18 World Juniors in Germany to contend with.

“The competition in Qatar was very tough,” said Abdul Salem. “But I did my best, played well and it paid off.”

He added: “I really didn’t expect to win bronze medal. It’s made me want to work on my game even harder and try to get a gold medal next time. I will carry on practising in order to make that happen. One day I hope to turn professional.”

Joven, Abdul Salem’s coach, believes the future is bright for his protégé, commenting: “Abdul Salem has only been training with me for one year, but he’s already improved very fast. Qatar was his first competition outside the UAE, he had no experience, but he still won bronze. He’s learnt a lot from this tournament.”

Abdul Salem lost the semi-final against a competitor who has competed in two junior GCC and world finals, said Joven: “I could see in his eyes he wasn’t happy with bronze. He wanted gold, he was so upset, but that will come with practice.

“He’s definitely the best of the juniors and has a good future in billiards ahead of him. He has the support of his father, practises every day and is willing to put in the hard work. I can tell he’s not doing this for fun, he’s very serious.”

Alba will now look to get Abdul Salem as much exposure in international tournaments as possible. “He’s new to the game but his style is perfect. Everybody who saw him in Qatar commented on his play. He’s like a professional. But he needs more exposure.

“I want him to join as many events outside the country as possible. But there are difficulties. Qatar has month-long training camps in Taiwan to prepare for competitions, but the training in Dubai is not so good. I need time and quality opposition to develop my juniors.”