KARACHI, Feb 16: Mohammad Yousuf retained his national snooker title, when he romped past Imran Shehzad 7-3, in the final played on Monday at the Karachi Club.
The former world and Asian amateur champion, silenced his critics once again, winning the prestigious trophy for a record 13th time. Yousuf began his campaign in style mesmerising his opponent appearing in the nationals for the very first time, pinching the first two frames 71/19 and 62/27 with effortless ease.
Shehzad on a rare occasion in aggression, managed to pull one back by lifting the third frame 66/20, studded with a fine break of 52.
Yousuf was soon ahead 57/24 in the next frame with 25 points on the table. But gifting his opponent with 12 points, Yousuf allowed Imran move closer 57/36 and a great chance for the latter to level the frame scores 2-2.
The champion then potted green and Imran brown. Yousuf was then snookered behind pink but with a superb shot not only broke the snooker but also potted blue in the bargin.
Imran now needed a snooker and the remaining two coloured balls to play for. But it was Yousuf who sunk the balls to win the frame and take a comfortable 3-1 advantage.
The maestro continued where he had left off in the fourth, continuing to frustrate his young opponent with his fine potting. The champion moved further ahead 4-1 and was only three frames away for the title.
Imran tried to match his opponent point for point in the next frame and was soon trailing 41/50. Then potting yellow, green and brown, levelled the score 50-50. But a crucial miss on the blue, almost sealed his doom.
The champion snookered behind pink not only broke the snooker but gained five more points when the blue ball sunk into the top pocket putting him in front 55-50. The drama in this hard fought out frame was not over as yet. Yousuf trying to pot pink inoffed with his cue ball. Imran in his turn potted a very difficult pink and an equally difficult black to win the frame and go into the interval trailing 2-4.
After the break Yousuf was on the go again with 47 points on the trot, but after a series of errors, Yousuf allowed his opponent to claw back closer 35/47.
Never taking advantage of these errors, Imran squandered his chances letting Yousuf off the hook, who in turn won the frame 75/38 to take a winning 5-2 lead. Chalking up a fine break of 62 in the eighth, Younis picked up the next frame 68/23 and was now only a frame away from victory.
In a last dash effort trying to save the rout, Imran took a sizable lead only to see Yousuf catch up at 41-41. Imran sank brown and blue to move in front 50-41. Pocketing a difficult pink Yousuf was now breathing down Imran's neck 47-50, only to miss the crucial black. After both players tried their best to pot the black, it was Imran who was successful, winning the ninth frame 57/47 and trail 3-6.
Breaking the frame in the 10th, Yousuf began to move ahead smoothly with Imran trying his level best to keep up with the pace. With two reds and six coloured balls on the table, Yousuf was in front 42/38 and potting excellently won the frame 80/56 and the match 7-3.
After the match Yousuf received the trophy and the winners purse of Rs.70,000. Imran took the runners-up purse for Rs. 40,000 and a cup. The two semifinalists Khurram Agha and Mohammad Nazir, each received a purse for Rs 15,000, and their respective trophies.
The quarterfinalists, Farhan Mirza, Vishan Gir, Saleh Mohammad and Naveen Perwani, each got Rs.5000 and trophies. The eight pre-quarterfinalists Imran Mughal, Saqib Butt, Shakir Rafiq, Atiq Latif Bux, Mohammad Aklhas, Sher Khan and Abu Saim received Rs.2000 each and trophies.
For chalking up the highest break in the tournament (115), Khurram Agha bagged a further Rs. 8000 and a trophy
Final result:
Mohammad Yousuf bt Imran Shehzad 7-3: 71/19, 62/27, 20/66, 70/40, 57/18, 55/69, 75/38, 68/23, 47/57, 80/46.