September 20, 2006	Wednesday	Sha'aban 26, 1427

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KARACHI, Sept 19: Playing to his true potential, seasoned Naveen Perwani retained Latif Masters snooker title when he subdued top seed Khurram Agha 4-2 in the final before a packed to capacity crowd of KC billiards room on Tuesday.

Trailing down by two frames, he staged a remarkable comeback to turn the table on his opponent by picking up the next four in the best of seven frames final. The scores were; 25-66, 44-58, 66-55, 91-8, 79-22, 76-28.

By virtue of triumph, Naveen also avenged his 1-5 quarter-final loss he had suffered at the hands of Khurram in the 31st National championship earlier this year.

The win, first of the year in a ranking competition, earned him winning purse of Rs 100,000 in addition to Rs 5,000 for building highest break (140) of the tournament. Khurram was rewarded runners up prize of Rs50,000.

“After making it to the final earlier in the day I was confident of retaining the trophy,” Naveen, 34, told Dawn after the match.

Khurram, the reigning national champion, while applauding the performance of Naveen said the latter always plays remarkably well in Latif Masters.

Earlier, Naveen cruised into the final after beating Yousuf 56-4 in the one set play-off following a tie as both secured 29 points apiece.

Yousuf who was at the second slot with 26 points on Monday was held to a 3-3 draw by Sohail Shahzad in the last league match to take his tally to 29.

On the other hand, Naveen who had 24 points whipped Salman Shaikh 4-2 which gave him five points, raising his tally to 29.

In the other two league matches, Khurram beat Imran Shahzad 6-0 while Rambel Gul outplayed Mohammad Asif 4-2.

Khurram, winner of three ranking titles this year, opened the final on winning note by taking two frames 66-25, 58-44. But from then onwards, he lost his rhythm and, except for the third, he was at the receiving end.

After picking up third frame 66-55 to reduce the deficit 1-2, Naveen picked up momentum winning the next three frames 91-8, 79-22, 76-28. He chalked up splendid break of 91 in the fourth and 51 in the fifth.

Results:

Rambel Gul bt Mohammad Asif 4-2 (59-70, 71-32, 43-63, 74-48, 64-52, 56-31); Naveen Perwani bt Salman Shaikh 4-2 (46-64, 49-31, 68-24, 69-19, 59-31, 55-64); Khurram Agha bt Imran Shahzad 6-0 (57-40, 76-60, 79-29, 72-33, 77-26, 67-34); Mohammad Yousuf drew Sohail Shahzad 3-3 (35-92, 31-50, 67-31, 54-48, 30-64).

Final: Naveen Perwani bt Khurram Agha 4-2 (25-66, 44-58, 66-55, 91-8, 79-22, 76-28).