LAHORE, Dec 7: Karachi ‘A’ won the third National Team Championship with a three-day aggregate of 697 at the Royal Palm Golf Club here on Sunday.

Achieving the title was no easy task and after a very close battle between Karachi, Royal Palm, Lahore Gymkhana and Gujranwala, Karachi ‘A’ came out the winner, proving themselves to be even better than the past two day’s leading teams -- Gujranwala and the hosts.

For the winners, Ali Hai produced a round of quality, a par-72 on the final day which played a key role in the win. Ali Sher, an upcoming lad, who remained cool under tremendous competitive conditions and played his shots in textbook style excelled too on the final day.The Karachi team, under the captaincy of Commander Anser Mehmood has emerged as a reliable bunch, and the way they played on the final day, showed that they are capable of matching the best of teams.

Defenders Lahore Gymkhana ‘A’, with an aggregate of 704 claimed the runners-up spot. They performed better on the final day with Aadil Jehangir producing the best game. His round of 73 on the final day reflected focus and ability, factors that had somehow evaded him in the first two rounds.

Aadil later stated that on the first day, although he stuck to his swing, the feel was missing simply because he had been busy with his exams and had not practiced for about seven days prior to the competition. However, 18 holes of play on Friday and Saturday helped him get his feel back. The other players who helped the Gymkhana team to snatch the runner-up slot from Royal Palm ‘A’ were Danyaal Jehangir, Murad A. Khan and Javed Khan.

In the individual gross, M.Safdar secured the top position with rounds of 70, 72 and 77 which made his aggregate 219. Ali Hai of Karachi seized the runner-up slot. His three-day break up was 76, 77 and 72 (225). Waseem Rana of DHA, Karachi, came third.

Ami Qin of Islamabad was the winner of the ladies’ gross event while Shahzadi Gulfam, remained runner-up. Maryana Khan was the winner in the net section while Kashifa Zafar was the runner-up.

Team standings:

697 — Karachi ‘A’

708 — Gymkhana ‘A’

709 — Royal Palm

715 — Gujranwala ‘A’