August 3, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 4, 1424

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KARACHI, Aug 2: Top seed Khurram Hussain Agha overcame the jinx at last which haunted him over the years, when he scored a 6-1 victory over seventh seed Farhan Mirza, in the final of the 12th Red & White Snooker Championship played on Saturday at the Snooker Area Club in Gizri.

Although Khurram holds the No.1 spot for nearly two years now, he had never won a ranking tournament, always bowing out in the final or semifinal stage. But being the most consistent player on the circuit, Khurram kept piling up the points which kept him ahead of the other participating cueists, which helped him represent his country in the World, Asian and other tournaments aboard.

Although Khurram emerged victorious by a seemingly wide margin, the match was really not a one sided affair as the score sheet suggests.

When the game began Farhan, a former National senior and junior champion, was tipped as the firm favourite to win the tournament and began the proceedings well by scoring 26 points on his second visit to the table. But Khurram playing superbly, chalked up a break of 45 and pocketed the opening frame.

Once again Farhan potting to perfection, moved into a comfortable lead scoring 41 points on the trot and seemed to be on course to level the frame scores 1-1. Once again Khurram rose to the occasion and clearing the table like a master craftsman, pinched the frame 73/62, to move ahead 2-0.

Disappointed with the proceedings, Farhan once again was in the lead in the third frame. But his smooth flow was halted when Khurram cleared the table again to take an impregnable 3-0 lead.

Farhan who toppled second seed Saleh Mohammad 5-1 and fourth seed Naveen Perwani 6-3, on his way to the finals, was really now in a spot of bother. However chalking up 42 points on his third visit to the table, Farhan saved some blushes by grabbing the fourth frame 55/42 to cut down the deficit 1-3. But Khurram moving in for the kill with a break of 57, forced Farhan to surrender the fifth frame and move closer towards the jaws of defeat, trailing 1-4.

Farhan gave his large band of supporters some glimmer of hope by chalking up a break of 40 in the next frame but was absolutely dejected when Khurram for the third time in the match cleared the table, sinking all the coloured balls to win the sixth frame 51/47.

Closing in with only a frame away from a much cherished victory, Farhan chalked up another handsome break of 53 and it was all over bar the shouting, when Farhan threw in the towel at 63/0, with Khurram emerging a comfortable 6-1 winner.

Although beaten soundly, a word of praise must be meted out to the bespectacled cueist Farhan Mirza. Based in Sweden he missed the last ranking tournament which saw him slide down the ranking ladder. Then without any practice he worked his way into the final.

Khurram received the winners purse for Rs.60,000, not to mention the Rs.6000, he received for chalking up the highest break in the tournament (122). Two other well wishers presented him with cheques for Rs.10,000 and Rs.5000 each, also taking home the glittering winning trophy.

Farhan had to be content with the runners-up purse for Rs.35,000 and a trophy. The two semifinalists Naveen Perwani and Imran Shehzad were presented with Rs.15,000 each, along with their trophies.

The four quarterfinalists Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh), Abu Saim (Punjab), Imran Mughal (Punjab) and Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) picked up Rs.8000 apiece and their respective trophies.

The eight pre-quarterfinalists Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh), Masood Ahmed (Sindh), Rambel Gul (NWFP), Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh), Vishan Gir (Sindh), Saqib Butt (Punjab), Mohammad Nazir (Punjab) and Amit Perwani (Sindh), were awarded Rs.3000 apiece with their trophies.

Khurram and Saleh, who lost in the quarterfinals, both retaining their No.1 and 2 spots in the rankings, have been selected to represent Pakistan in the World championship which will be held in China in October.

Result (final) Khurram Hussain Agha (Sindh) beat Farhan Mirza (Punjab) 6-1: 59/26, 73/62, 65/32, 42/55, 57/0, 51/47, 63/0.