"He needs a couple of wins now to boost his confidence and finances. He's got four busy months coming up so hopefully he will do well in all competitions. We would like to thank the Counsel General of Pakistan in Manchester Dr. Zahoor Ahmed and Oversees Pakistanis Foundation president Barrister Amjad Malik who helped us a lot., and also Simon Brownell at World Snooker, as she worked tirelessly to sort out this situation." Akbar is set to face 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham in the first round of the 2017 Welsh Open that starts on Monday. Later in February, he will participate in the Coral Snooker Shoot Out at the Watford Colosseum, followed by the 2017 Gibraltar Open in March and the Betfred World Championship’s qualifying round in April.