Shabbir hopes new talent surfaces soon

Pakistan’s number one golfer retains title with five-under-par 211

KARACHI: Pakistan’s number one golfer Shabbir Iqbal retained his Independence Day Cup Open Golf Championship on Sunday at the Defence Authority Country and Golf Club (DAC&GC), which means he now has bagged two wins on the trot in the Karachi-leg of the circuit.

Shabbir, who started the competition with seven-under-par 65 on the opening day, scored two-over-par 74 on the second day and par-score 72 on third to make a three round aggregate of five-under-par 211.  The score earned him a five-shot win over the pair of Mohammad Munir and Matloob Ahmed.

Shabbir’s two titles — earlier in Sindh Open and now in the Independence Day Cup — are meant to give him an advantage over his opponents, when the 22nd CNS Open begins on August 17 at Karachi Golf Club.

“It feels great to win the Independence Day Cup, but at the same time it feels like there is lack of golfing talent in our country since no new golfer has surfaced in the recent competitions,” Iqbal told The Express Tribune. “We won’t be here always and someone needs to replace us someday.”

He added that Pakistan needs new talent which can represent the country internationally. “We have to organise training programs for golfers as this sport is now gaining interest among the youngsters. The right training will help them excel in the sport,” he said.

Munir (73, 68, 75) and Matloob (70, 72, 74) shared the second spot with par-score (216), while with a score of one-over-par 217 Shahbaz Masih secure the third place.

Meanwhile, Zohaib Asif staged a comeback to topple overnight leader Ghazanfar Mahmood and retained the amateur’s title. Asif’s three round aggregate was 11-over-par (227) courtesy three-day scores of 74, 78 and 75. Mahmood finished two shots behind Asif with 13-over-par 229.

The senior pros title went to Imdad Hussain who defeated Javed Inayat in the playoff following a tie at two-under-par 70 in the 18-hole contest. Nadeem Almas retained junior pros crown carding successive two rounds of four-over-par (76, 76).