Ruthless Imran crowned national champion

Experienced cueist destroys Sohail in record-equalling triumph.

KARACHI:

Seasoned cueist Imran Shahzad showed no mercy for Sohail Shahzad, trouncing the fourth-seed 8-0 in the final of the NBP Ranking Snooker Championship at the Karachi Club yesterday.

With this one-sided triumph, Imran matched former national star Saleh Mohammad’s feat of recording a straight-frame victory in a local championship final and also climbed to the top of the national rankings after an unbeaten campaign in the eight-day championship.

The experienced campaigner from Lahore was off to a cautious start, waiting for opportunities to come his way rather than seeking huge breaks in the battle for the trophy. His deft style transformed his opponent’s seemingly minor errors into huge blunders that enabled him to dominate the final. Imran’s strategy yielded results from the word go as he claimed the first frame 92-24 without any notable break.

The fourth-seed continued to struggle in the second frame, missing several chances which Imran took full advantage of to win 55-11. The Lahore-based cueist then went on to stamp his authority over the contest, blanking out Sohail 74-10, 68-10 and 62-4 to secure a 5-0 lead.

Sohail attempted to stage a comeback by taking the lead in the sixth frame, but was soon undone by Imran’s superb 53-point break, the highest of the match, to win 59-36. At this stage, any hopes of an upset win by Sohail were snuffed out as the fourth-seed did not put up much fight in the last two frames, which Imran won 54-37 and 59-28.

Imran surprised with one-sided win

The all-conquering Imran was surprised at the overwhelming manner of his victory.

“I wasn’t expecting such a win because Sohail is a tough opponent,” Imran told The Express Tribune. “I just wanted to be careful and opted not to go for big breaks. After a couple of frames, I realised that Sohail was having an off day so I became more aggressive.”

Meanwhile, a dejected Sohail admitted that his performance was the worst of his career but also blamed the sub-standard table for his below-par show.

“It wasn’t my day,” he said. “It’s my worst performance ever since I started my career. The table was also not up to the standard. It had height and base problems.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2011.