KARACHI: Saad Habib Malik delivered a compelling show of his exciting potential on Sunday and took the National Amateur Golf Championship title with it.

Trailing by six strokes ove­r­n­ight, the 18-year-old Saad, who is the country’s top-ranked junior amateur, shot a stunning four-under 68 in the final round at the Defence Authority Golf Club to clinch the title by one stroke.

While everything came together for Saad, who finished at six-over 294 after 72 holes, it unravelled quickly for the rest of the field, including Sri Lankan Danushan Kanas Kumar and Pakistan number one Numan Ilyas.

Saad had completed his round by the time Kumar and Numan came to the last two holes. Kumar couldn’t reel in Saad as he ended runner-up with a three-over 75 while Num­an (77) finished tied for third with Shahmeer Maajid (73), two strokes further behind.

The three-round ladies event also concluded on Sunday with Aania Farooq Syed clinching the title.

She returned a card of 11-over 83 in the final round for an overall 30-over 246 but still managed to win by seven strokes over Ana James Gill and Jasia Tassawar Hussain.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025