KARACHI: The 18th Sindh Open Golf Championship ended in a blaze of glory for prolific golfer Shabbir Iqbal, who returned with 14 under 202 as curtains fell on the 54-holes event at the Arabian Sea Country Club on Sunday.

Defending champion Shabbir remained a front-runner from day one when he set a new course record by firing 10 under 62. In second round he shot five under 67 and rounded off with one over 73 to retain the title winning by six shots.

At 42, the Pakistan No 1 golfer is making waves which is evident from his back-to-back title triumphs in the DHA Independence Day Open and the Sindh Open. Earlier, he finished runner-up in the 21st CNS Open, an event he had won for a record nine times since its inception in 1995.

There was a three-way tie for the second place between Shahid Javed Khan, Talat Ijaz and M. Munir at eight under 208.

Zeeshan Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa annexed the junior pros title carding seven over 151 the scores being 76 and 75.

Shabbir received a winning purse of Rs332,100 and a glittering trophy at the prize distribution ceremony.

Chief executive of the Arabian Sea Country Club Arif Ali Khan Abbasi, the Sindh Golf Association (SGA) president Asad I A Khan, SGA secretary Ashraf Khan Ghori and top official of Yamaha Ito Yasushi were prominent among others who attended the prize distribution ceremony.

Top finishers:

Pros:

202 – Shabbir Iqbal (Islamabad) 62, 67, 73

208 – Shahid Javed Khan (Royal Palm) 68, 66, 74; Talat Ijaz (Lahore Gymkhana) 69, 67, 72; M. Munir (Islamabad) 69, 69, 70

209 – Matloob Ahmed (Gymkhana) 71, 68, 70; Shafiq Masih (Gymkhana) 72, 68, 69

210 – Waheed Baloch (KGC) 69, 67, 74

213 – Khalid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 70, 69, 74; Daniyal Jahangir (Gymkhana) 71, 73, 69

Amateurs:

144 – M. Rehman (Royal Palm) 73, 71; Zohaib Asif (DHA) 74, 70; Ghazanfar Mahmood (Rawalpindi) 70, 74

145 – Waseem Rana (DHA) 72, 73

Junior pros:

151 – Zeeshan Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 76, 75

154 – Nasir Masih (Lahore Gymkhana) 77, 77; Malik

Sadiq (KGC) 78, 76; Usman Ali (Lahore Gymkhana) 78, 77.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2016