August 5, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25,1423

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KARACHI, Aug 4: Matloob Ahmad annexed the MCB Sindh Cup at the Arabian Sea Country Club Sunday, just a week after finishing joint fourth in the CNS golf championship.

A closing three-under 69 for a 11-under 277 was a stroke better than his playing partner Shabbir Iqbal who shot a 72 for 10-under 278 for the tournament.

Shabbir, who won the CNS title at Karachi Golf Course last Sunday, bogeyed the last hole after Matloob had also dropped a stroke on the par-four 18th to deny himself a playoff chance.

Both Matloob and Shabbir struggled on the back-nine after both the aggregated three-under on the front-nine.

Shabbir stretched his overnight one stroke led to two shots with six holes remaining before everything started to go wrong for him.

Both Matloob and Shabbir pared the par-three 13th but the challenger bogeyed three of the next five holes as compared to Matloob who conceded a stroke on the 18th.

Shabbir dropped strokes on the par-five 15th, par-four 16th and the 18th.

“It is a cruel game but then that’s the fun about it. It’s all about consistency and I feel like kicking myself for the golf I played in the 36 holes,” Shabbir, who carded 66 each on the first two days and then 74 on Saturday, remarked.

Matloob was delighted after chasing Shabbir all the way.

“I must thank my family who kept boosting my morale. I knew if I picked my chances, I had good chance of landing the title,” Matloob, who followed up his first round of 70 with three 69, said.

Mohammad Munir also had a dismal final round when he carded two-over 74 to finish in sole third position at seven-under 281.

Mohammad Sajid and Waheed Baloch shared the fourth place at six-under 282. While Sajid had a round of two-under 70, Waheed played the lowest round of the day with five-under 67.

Shahid Javed Khan clinched the amateur title when he beat Taimur Khan in sudden-death after finishing at two-over 290.

Shahid played three-over for the day that included three birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on the 18th whereas Taimur shot 70 with three birdies and a bogey on the 15th.

Mohammad Aftab Mansoor, President of MCB, was the chief guest and distributed prizes amongst the winners.

Final round scores:

277 — Matloob Ahmad 70, 69, 69, 69.

278 — Shabbir Iqbal 66, 66, 74, 72.

281 — Mohammad Munir 68, 68, 71, 74.

282 — Mohammad Sajid 73, 70, 69, 70; Waheed Baloch 69, 70, 76, 67.

283 — Mohammad Tahir 70, 66, 77, 70.

284 — Mohammad Tariq 73, 65, 77, 70; Mohammad Saddiq 71, 72, 70, 71; Mohammad Akram 73, 70, 70, 71.

286 — Abbas Ali 70, 67, 74, 75; Ahmed Saeed 72, 70, 70, 74; Imdad Hussain 70, 75, 70, 71.

288 — Akhtar Ali 69, 71, 72, 76.

289 — Sajjad Khan 67, 72, 74, 76; Karam Hussain 69, 74, 72, 74; Ansar Mehmood 71, 70, 74, 74; Javed Inayat 74, 71, 73, 71.

291 — Ghani Khan 72, 72, 71, 76.

293 — Amjad Yousuf 72, 75, 72, 74.

294 — Ghulam Baloch 73, 71, 72, 78.

295 — Mohammad Javed 74, 68, 74, 79; Taj Nabi 75, 67, 75, 78; Shafiq Masih 70, 76, 73, 76; Mohammad Akhtar 73, 75, 73, 74; Abdul Jabbar 70, 72, 80, 73; Pervez Akhtar 70, 75, 78, 72.

296 — Noor Buksh 73, 72, 77, 74; Afzal Mohsin 73, 71, 78, 74.

297 — Asghar Ali 75, 74, 74, 74; Younus Afridi 75, 70, 76, 76; Mohammad Irfan 71, 73, 79, 74.

298 — Ghulam Hussain 72, 75, 75, 76; Ijaz Gul 70, 78, 79, 71.

299 — Nazir Khan 71, 72, 79, 77.

300 — Talib Hussain 68, 74, 80, 78; Mahmood Kiyani 76, 71, 75, 78.

301 — Mohammad Zubair 76, 67, 81, 77.

302 — Iqbal Bashir 73, 74, 78, 77.

304 — Afsar Ali 72, 77, 75, 80.

305 — Ghanzanfar Mehmood 73, 73, 78, 81.

306 — Noor Din 72, 73, 79, 82.

307 — Parvez Khan 75, 74, 79, 79.