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| September 22, 2005 | Thursday | Sha'aban 17, 1426 |
Khurram snatches victory from jaws of defeat
KARACHI, Sept 21: Khurram Agha, trailing at 1-4 in the best of nine frames final and with a deficit of 34 points in the sixth frame, snatched win from the jaws of defeat beating sixth seed Atiq Latif Bux 5-4 to clinch the inaugural KC Ian Fyfe memorial snooker championship at Amir Bux billiards hall, Karachi Club, on Wednesday.
Atiq, a scion of Bux family, had an impressive start and it seemed at one stage that he would break his title jinx but the fighting Khurram changed the complexion of the match, by winning a gruelling battle 28-74, 73-50, 44-77, 51-81, 35-62, 70-56, 61-2, 74-34, 72-48.
Atiq who went down 4-6 to Muhammad Yousuf in the pre-final of the just-concluded Latif Masters, opened the final on a winning note taking the first frame 74-28 with a break of 39.
Khurram, a former Pakistan No1 who too could not go beyond semifinals of Latif Masters, levelled the lead one-all by picking up the next frame 73-50. Though Atiq slammed a break of 43 but even that could not prevent his defeat in the second frame.
With the score locked at one-all, there was no stopping Atiq who pocketed three frames in a row 77-47, 81-51, 62-35 to enhance his lead to 4-1.
Atiq, though earned a 34 point lead in the 6th frame over his opponent, he blundered by missing the black ball that not only cost him the frame but also the match.
Khurram won the sixth frame 70-56 slamming a break of 44 to narrow the lead to 2-4. He kept cool to firm his grip on the match and gave no room to his opponent to penetrate. As a result, he won the next three frames 61-2, 74-34, 72-48.
This is Khurram’s third career win, the previous two being in Latif Masters and Style Cup, both in 2003.
“I was hungry for victory in the circuit which came after two years,” a jubilant Khurram said after the final.
Khurram, 29, called the win part of the game and cited an example of 2002 Latif Masters final in which he lost 6-7 to Naveen after enjoying 6-1 lead.
Atiq said his missing of the black ball in the sixth frame was a turning point.
Khurram pocketed the winners’ cheque for Rs40,000 and a trophy while Atiq was awarded runner-up purse of Rs20,000.
The winners of Latif Masters too received their awards on the occasion with Naveen Perwani getting a sum of Rs100,000 while Muhammad Yousuf got richer by Rs50,000.
Results: Khurram Agha bt Atiq Latif Bux 5-4 (28-74, 73-50, 47-77, 51-81, 35-62, 70-56, 61-2, 74-34, 72-48).
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