KARACHI, Sept 26: Former national champion Shahid Aftab of Punjab made a comeback into the game thrice to inflict 7-4 defeat on Sindh’s Abdul Sattar in the best of 13 frames final to land Jubilee Insurance third ranking snooker title, second of his career, at hotel Sheraton on Thursday.

Shahid made a great recovery when trailing 0-2, 1-3 and 3-4 to turn the table on his opponent who thwarted an all-Punjab final after a long time.

The 31-year-old Shahid won the five-hour duel 56-76, 64-68, 73-51, 47-74, 114-3, 74-16, 40-66, 71-25, 58-46, 73-39, 61-59.

The triumph also helped him surge on top of the national ranking relegating Imran Shehzad to second spot. The top two together with IBSF world snooker champion Mohammad Asif will travel to Daugavpils, Latvia, in Nov to feature in world meet.

“I recollected my acts together after seven frames to add another title in my cap,” an elated 2011 national champion, who had represented the country in two Asian and a world championship, told Dawn after the final.

“Initially, I was under little bit pressure as the event was serving as a qualifier for the world event,” he said, adding that the tide turned in his favour as he won last four frames in a row.

Though 2009 Sindh Cup champion Sattar went down fighting, he earned consolation by making maiden final of his career. He was of full praise for the eventual champion.

Shahid had beaten Amir Tariq 5-1 while Sattar trounced Mohammad Sajjad 5-3 in the quarters. Again, Shahid sent shock waves by getting the better of top seed Imran Shehzad 6-3 while Sattar removed Mohammad Bilal 6-2 in the semis.

At the outset, Sattar had an edge until 4-3 when he saw lead slipped from his hands. Shahid delighted fraternity of the game with a century break of 106 in the fifth frame besides two half century breaks of 63 in the second an 65 in the tenth frames. Sattar piled up a break of 55 in the second frame and 54 in fourth.

A beaming Shahid received the winning purse of Rs70,000 and a trophy while Sattar got runner-up prize of Rs40,000 and a trophy from the chief guest, Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Siddiqui during the presentation after the final.

Imran Shehzad, who struck highest break of 131, was awarded Rs5,000.

Also present on the occasion among others were Test cricketer Shahid Afridi, managing director of Jubilee General Insurance (JGI) Tahir Ahmed, Noorullah Merchant of JGI, president of Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) Alamgir Shaikh and secretary PBSF Munawwar Shaikh.

Speaking on the occasion, Shoaib motivated IBSF world champion Mohammad Asif to regain form and bring more laurels to the nation. He also gave him a word of advice to keep patience for the promised government rewards which he will hopefully get in due course of time.

In his speech, Afridi hailed the performance of Shahid and Sattar in the final. He said Asif has done the nation proud and was a role model for youth of the nation.

Alamgir and Tahir Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.

Final result:

Shahid Aftab (Punjab) bt Abdul Sattar (Sindh) 7-4 (56-76, 64-68, 73-51, 47-74, 114-3, 74-16, 40-66, 71-25, 58-46, 73-39, 61-59).