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The inspirational Iqbal’s family
Shehzad and Mehwish Iqbal upgrade the snooker passion to the next level. Their four boys are fearless competitors and are all over the place at this 2023 EBSA European Snooker Championships at St. Paul’s Bay Dolmen hotel, playing from the U16 until the Men’s event.
Father Sean (Shehzad) did not look out to expenses to fulfill their kids’s dreams: they simply love to play and to it in a regular basis everyday even at home, in Glasgow, where they have six tables in two separate rooms just aside.
The oldest one is the 17 aged Amaan, born in 2006. But then came Ayaan, aged 16 now, followed by the aged 13 Azaan – who, coincidentally, shares his birthday with The Ace in the Pack, Judd Trump (August 20th) – and the young boy is Adyan, aged 11.
And no, don’t stop here: now they have a small princess in the family, the aged 3 sister Aizah. ‘Daddy Iqbal’, aged 42, also a former and still a part-time amateur snooker player but devote passionate, spends a fortune to get the family to where the acts takes place, like the Malta’s event.
At home, mummy Mehwish has no spare time except for cooking and cleaning, looking out for the youngsters. Obviously, a 4 seats car is not enough for a 7 members family: must be a van for so many, we’ve asked. A 7 seat Toyota Verso solves the problem.
«Sponsors would be most welcome to help us, of course. This passion takes a lot of money, I’m not gonna tell you how much, but it’s worthwhile», told us a very, very proud father – and with plenty of reason to be so. His family originally comes from Multan, in Pakistan, where they go on holiday once every three years to visit the rest of the family.
The ‘Iqbal Brothers’ confuse the gathering in Malta: you bump into one of them them… and then a few seconds later you think you’re watching his hologram: the resemblance in the three young ones it’s simply remarcable. Fabulous four brothers ready to rock, each one with his own idol: pick up your favourite player, they all have a different one.
Amaan is a fan of John Higgins, but Ayaan’s favourite is local Stephen Maguire – who used to practice with daddy Shehzad in Glasgow (they even shared the same coach, Eddie Gill) -, Azaan naturally is a fan of Bristol’s Judd Trump (their share the birthday), but Adyan is more keen on Neil Robertson.
