October 5, 2020 marks the 48th death anniversary of MSA Hassan who won the first All Ceylon Amateur Snooker Championship in 1935 at the inaugural tournament organized by the Central YMCA and his record in the YMCA Billiards Service 1933 has been unsurpassed.
He won every single event at one time or another, sometimes several at the same time and was the National Champion of Snooker for three years in succession in 1936, 1937 and 1938.
He showed his remarkable mastery of the game by winning the title again in 1952 and his records at Billiards and Snooker at the YMCA are still unbroken.
Hassan was the Chairman of the YMCA Billiards Club from 1948 to 1953 and guided the activities of the club with great acceptance.
He was the co-founder of the All Ceylon Amateur Billiards Association and Control Council of Ceylon in 1948. In 1947 he was named the Best All Round Ceylonese Sportsmen.
Hassan who was and old boy of Zahira College, Colombo also played cricket and rugby for his college and was in the 1932 rugby team that beat Trinity College for the first time. He was awarded the school’s Best Rugby Player prize. He also played cricket for Moors Sports Club.
In 1949, Hassan decided to concentrate on Billiards and gave an opening to MJM Lafir.
In 1966 he was appointed a member of the Advisory Committee on Billiards by the then Minister of Sports V.A. Sugathadasa.
M Kamil Hassan