July 29, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

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KARACHI, July 28: Shabbir Iqbal held his nerves to clinch the CNS golf championship by three strokes after carding a final round of 72 that gave him a four-under 284 for the tournament.

The bearded golfer from Navy made three birdies and as many bogeys, including on the crucial par-four 15th and par-three 16th, Sunday at the Karachi Golf Course under hazy conditions. He took home Rs52,050 along with the glittering winner trophy.

Imdad Hussain, the defending champion, playing in the last flight with Shabbir, finished second after firing a one-under 71 that gave him a one-under 287 for the championship. He received Rs35,400 besides the trophy.

Imdad was one of the four golfers out of 40 to break the par.

Imdad, who had a disappointing four-over 76 in the first round, launched a late charge only to be denied an opportunity to take the tournament into playoff.

Imdad was let down on the back-nine on which he conceded strokes on the par-four 13th and 15th despite earning strokes on the par-three 11th, par-four 12th, par-five 14th and par-three 16th. His other bogey came at the par-three eighth.

Imdad also faltered on the front-nine when he failed to make use of good playing conditions under light winds. Instead, he conceded a stroke and fell five behind Shabbir who had started the day with a lead of four.

Imdad, on the back-nine, made successive birdies on the 11th and 12th to reduce Shabbir’s lead to three strokes. But Imdad’s bogeyed on the 13th restored a four-stroke lead for Shabbir.

Both the players birdied the 14th and again bogeyed the 15th before Imdad earned a two-stroke swing on the 16th when Shabbir bogeyed and the challenger birdied the hole.

With two holes remaining and Shabbir leading by three, the champion sealed the title by birdieing the par-four 17th which was pared by Imdad.

It was a splendid weekend for Shabbir who had started the tournament with an opening round of two-over par before firing a 67 Friday that turned out to be the joint-lowest score of the tournament alongwith Imdad’s five-under Saturday.

“It was a nice weekend but certainly not an easy one. Consistency was to be the key and I am glad that I maintained it,” a delighted Shabbir said.

“I think the final back-nine was the toughest I faced all week. All I did was to be keep a cool head and that turned out to be the decisive,” he said.

Imdad regretted missed opportunities on the back-nine but gave full marks to Shabbir.

“I had my opportunities on the back-nine. I think if I had not conceded strokes, thing might have been a bit different. Who knows Shabbir might have buckled under pressure.

“But he played flawlessly throughout the week and deserved to emerge as the champion. He has always been a tough competitor and this week was no different,” Imdad, who also plays on the professionals Asian circuit, said.

Javed Inayat finished in sole possession of third place after a final round of one-over 73 that gave him a three-over 291 for the competition. Matloob Ahmad was further two strokes behind after his two-over par Sunday that gave him a share of fourth place with Mohammad Tahir who carded three-over 75.

Ijaz Gul played the lowest round of two-under 70 for the day that gave him a share of seventh place with Mohammad Akhtar, Abbas Ali, Nazir Khan, Mohammad Siddique and Ghani Khan at seven- over 295.

Shahid Javed Khan fired a three-under 69 to win the amateurs trophy with 11-over 299. Taimur Hassan played a par round to finish 13-over 301 while overnight leader Vaqas Ahmad finished third after his five-over 77 for an aggregate of 14-over 302.

Final round scores:

284 — Shabbir Iqbal 74, 67, 71, 72.

287 — Imdad Hussain 76, 73, 67, 71.

291 — Javed Inayat 75, 72, 71, 73.

293 — Matloob Ahmad 74, 75, 71, 73; Mohammad Tahir 70, 73, 75, 75.

294 — Mohammad Munir 75, 73, 72, 74.

295 — Ijaz Gul 77, 77, 71, 70; Mohammad Akhtar 78, 73, 73, 71; Abbas Ali 75, 75, 71, 74; Nazir Khan 72, 76, 73, 74; Ghani Khan 76, 72, 70, 77.

296 — Mohammad Tariq 78, 75, 71, 72; Ansar Mahmood 73, 73, 75, 75; Mohammad Akram 74, 72, 71, 79.

297 — Ahmad Saeed 72, 74, 75, 76; Amjad Yousuf 73, 69, 78, 77.

298 — Akhtar Ali 74, 72, 77, 75; Taj Nabi 78, 71, 70, 79; Shafiq Masih 70, 72, 77, 79.

300 — Ahmad Zahir 76, 77, 76, 71; Abdul Jabbar 77, 74, 75, 74.

301 — Saleem Inayat 78, 74, 76, 73; Fida Hussain 73, 78, 76, 74.

303 — Waheed Baloch 77, 73, 77, 76.

305 — Ghulam Hussain 78, 78, 77, 72; Mohammad Zubair 77, 77, 75, 76; Mehmood Kiani 75, 77, 74, 79; Iqbal Bashir 76, 72, 77, 80.

306 — Noor Baksh 75, 73, 79, 79; Asghar Ali 76, 76, 75, 79.

308 — Mohammad Irfan 78, 73, 78, 79.

310 — Syed Ahmad Shah 81, 75, 78, 76; Manzoor Ahmad 76, 77, 75, 82.

313 — Shahid Jamil 78, 75, 82, 78; Mohammad Javed 78, 76, 81, 78.

314 — Shahzad Abbas 74, 79, 82, 79; Ghulam Abbas 74, 79, 81, 81.

317 — Afzal Mohsin 78, 73, 78, 88.

322 — Ghazanfar Mahmood 76, 80, 80, 86.