KARACHI, April 20: Fifth seed Saleh Mohammad, in a blaze of glory lifted the Sixth Red & White Snooker Trophy, after he outplayed former world and Asian champion Mohammad Yousuf 6-2, before a dumbfounded audience at the Karachi Gymkhana Saturday.

Both cueists had narrow wins the previous night to reach the final.

Saleh Mohammad edged out fourth seed Naveen Perwani 6-5, while Yousuf scraped past Punjab’s Imran Shehzad 6-5, with the black ball deciding the fate of the match.

With two of Pakistan’s most celebrated cueists in action, the snooker fans braced themselves for another nailbiting finish.

Yousuf having the distinction of being crowned the National champion for a record 11 occasions, began his campaign in style, winning the first two frames with remarkable ease 61/26, 66/25, before Saleh could even settle down.

Groggy with the run of play Saleh got his act together and potting seven reds with seven blacks registered a quick break of 56. In his next visit to the table, Saleh on the rampage, did better scoring 64 points on the trot, potting the remaining eight reds with eight blacks and now only the coloured balls in his sight, missed yellow on the top pocket.

Cutting down the deficit 1-2, Saleh continued where he had left off in the third. After Saleh chalked up another 30 points, Yousuf was still in front 46-30. But with a handsome clearance of 50 in quick time, Saleh pocketed the frame 92/46. The match being in progress for one hour and 20 minutes, saw the two giants of Pakistan snooker locked 2-2.

Changing tactics, Yousuf scoring a few points and going for safety, built up a 41-4 lead. Saleh refusing to let the frustration get the better of him managed to score 34 points and close the gap 38-41 with only the six coloured balls to play for.

Potting yellow to increase his lead 43/38, Yousuf using the rest, missed green. Never looking back Saleh potted green to pink and was ahead for the first time in the match 3-2 at the interval.

After the break, Yousuf took a slender lead. Stalking his opponent, Saleh replied with another winning break of 50. Yousuf tried his level best to catch up but his challenge came a bit too late with Saleh racing ahead 4-2.

Trying desperately hard to stem the tide, Yousuf once again was in front leading by 24 points with one red and the coloured balls to pot.

Taking his time, Saleh sunk the red with yellow and potting the yellow to black was now only a frame away from victory happily placed 5-2.

Aware that his time was numbered, Yousuf in a last ditch effort tried to slow down the game and was 14-7 in front when a terrible blunder sealed his doom.

Trying to pot red with the rest, Yousuf was horrified when the ball hit the jaw of the pocket. Going for the kill, Saleh potting like a true champion chalked up a stunning break of 73 and on course for a century, missed yellow letting out a loud “yes” as he was home and dry with a stunning 6-2 victory.

Saleh was awarded the winning trophy and a purse for Rs.55,000. He also pocketed another Rs.6000 for registering the highest break of 141 and Rs.5000 from a patron.

Yousuf had to be satisfied with the runners-up trophy and Rs.35,000.

The two semifinalists Naveen Perwani and Imran Shehzad received Rs.15,000 apiece. Imran was rewarded with another Rs.10000.

The four quarterfinalists Atiq Latif Bux, Minhas Malik, Fahad Asif and Arifullah, each received Rs.8000 and a trophy apiece, while the eight pre-quarterfinalists, Farhan Mirza, Khurram Hussain Agha, Vishan Gir, Amit Parwani, Shakeel Bhatti, Mustafa Haider, A. Qadeer Butt and Abu Saim each received Rs.2000 with their respective trophies.

Final result: Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) beat Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) 6-2: 26/61, 25/66, 120/15, 92/46, 56/43, 68/50, 55/49, 80/14.