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| April 30, 2007 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1428 |
Saleh caps comeback with title
KARACHI, April 29: Lady luck smiled on Saleh Mohammad who, despite all odds, picked up his first ranking title in two years by beating Rambel Gul comfortably in the all-NWFP final at the Karachi Club on Sunday.
He wrapped up the best of 11 frames final of 11th Style Snooker Championship in just two hour and 15 minutes registering straight 6-0 win. The scores were 84-31, 77-28, 84-0, 74-45, 69-20, 87-0.
He made his re-entry into the circuit after receiving a green signal from PBSA in the aftermath of violation of players’ code of conduct and representing Afghanistan at Doha Asian Games.
He had a poor start as he lost the opener to Abu Saim. From then onwards, he never looked back beating Shah Khan and Mohammad Asif to top group ‘C’. He blanked Kamran Razzak 5-0 in pre quarter-final, whipped Khurram Agha 5-2 in quarter-final before overcoming arch rival Mohammad Yousuf 5-3 in semis.
His last victory came in the 30th National Snooker Championship when he notched up 6-2 victory against Naveen Perwani two years back. He however, failed to defend his title as he was knocked out 6-1 by Khurram Agha in the semi-final last year. This was followed by his disappearance from the circuit.
Rambel, winner of 8th edition of Style Cup three years back at Karachi Gymkhana, has played remarkably well after his dismal run in last month’s nationals where he failed to make it to last 16. However, the way he played against Saleh has surprised all and sundry.
Saleh, who finished runner-up to Pankaj Advani at the World Snooker in Chinese city of Jiangmen in 2004, piled up solid breaks of 58, 84, 73 and 86 in the second, third, fourth and last frames.
He received a purse of Rs50,000 and the winner’s trophy from senior PBSA official Jamil Sakrani after the final. Rambel took home Rs30,000 and the runner-up trophy. President PBSA Asghar Valika was also present.
Veteran Mohammad Yousuf received Rs5,000 for scoring highest break of the tournament (131). He was also rewarded special prise of Rs10,000 by the chief guest.
Result (final):
Saleh Mohammad bt Rambel Gul 6-0 (84-31, 77-28, 84-0, 74-45, 69-20, 87-0).
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