KARACHI: Lady luck smiled on the promising Asjad Iqbal when he thrashed reigning national champion and country’s top player Mohammad Asif 7-4 in the all-Punjab final to re-claim the NBP snooker title before a select audience at the DA Creek Club on Tuesday.
Asjad, who went down fighting to Asif 3-4 in the league match, took sweet revenge by cruising to a convincing victory over his experienced opponent. He won the epic final 83-33, 76-31, 84-41, 72-51, 42-65, 31-76, 93-1, 49-77, 26-89, 73-22, 93-0 that lasted for six hours including half-an-hour break. He led 4-2 at the break.
In the run-up to the final, Asjad, 21, who topped group ‘A’, beat Farrukh Usman 5-3 in the pre quarter-finals, subdued veteran Mohammad Yousuf 5-2 in quarters and overcame wildcard Shehram Changezi 6-4 in the semi-final.
“I’ve worked hard for the event and was confident to win back the crown which has become synonymous with my name,” a jubilant Asjad told Dawn after the triumph.
It is pertinent to mention that Mohammad Sajjad had won the inaugural edition while Imran Shehzad was the defending champion.
To a question, the former national junior champion said he was mentally relaxed as he had played two to three finals of the circuit before.
He had a word of praise for talented Majid, who went down 4-6 to Asif in the semi-final.
Asif, 30, was gracious to acknowledge the performance of Asjad after the match. “It was his day and he played well,” Asif, who belongs to Faisalabad, told Dawn.
Asjad, a pupil of former Asian No 2 Sajjad, had a firm grip on the match as he earned commendable 4-0 lead taking one frame after the other 83-33, 76-31, 84-41, 72-51.
However, it was other way round as the match progressed and the lead was narrowed to 5-4 by two-time national champion Asif. Asjad conceded the fifth and sixth frames 42-65, 31-76 before enhancing his lead to 5-2 by taking the seventh 93-1.
Asjad was again caught on the wrong foot surrendering next two frames 49-77, 26-89, before stopping his opponent by wrapping up the match with 73-22, 93-0 wins in the following two frames.
Asjad earned a purse of Rs60,000 along with winners trophy while Asif received Rs35,000 and runner-up trophy from the chief guest Qamar Hussain, executive vice-president, National Bank of Pakistan.
Sindh’s Sultan Mohammad, the losing finalist of this year’s national championship, earned some consolation by capturing highest break (132) award of Rs5,000.
Also present at the prize distribution ceremony were president of Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA), Alamgir Shaikh, PBSA officials Javed Karim, Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, head of NBP sports division, Iqbal Qasim and secretary Creek Club, Brig (retd) Kamal.
Final result: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 7-4 (83-33, 76-31, 84-41, 72-51, 42-65, 31-76, 93-1, 49-77, 26-89, 73-22, 93-0).
Referee: Shabbir Daruwala.