Shahzad seals title with stunning fightback

Top-ranked cueist wins 8-7 despite not being fully fit.

KARACHI:

Imran Shahzad lived up to his reputation as Pakistan’s number one cueist as he defeated Mohammad Asif Toba 8-7 in the thrilling final of the third Jubilee General Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship, yesterday.

Shahzad had reached the final after defeating former number one Shahid Aftab 6-3 just two weeks after recovering from the dengue virus. Reaching the quarter-finals of the event also confirmed Shahzad’s participation in the World Championship to take place in India next month.

Despite losing the first frame 70-1, Shahzad came back to take a 2-1 lead courtesy 78-21 and 119-0 wins.  Toba, however, regained his focus and raced to a 5-2 lead by winning the next four frames 60-47, 88-40, 85-13 and 58-25. The see-saw battle continued as Toba drew closer to upsetting the top-ranked cueist, leading 7-5 at one stage.

However, Shahzad, in a must-win situation, secured the next three frames 92-0, 65-13, 115-25 to seal the title, the win coming with a 60 in the deciding frame.

“I wasn’t expecting to win this,” Shahzad told The Express Tribune. “I contracted Dengue a week before the tournament and hadn’t practiced at all. I was supposed to stay in bed but I took part because of the World Championships slot at stake. Looking back at it, I’ve been very lucky. The motivation was to stay on top.”

Shahzad will now defend his Del Monte Pakistan Ranking Tournament title that takes place from November 14 in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2011.