Shabbir Iqbal receives the CAS Open Golf Championship winner’s trophy at the awards ceremony. PHOTO: PAKISTAN AIR FORCE
Shabbir Iqbal successfully defended his Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Open Golf championship title as he took the lead on the concluding day of the tournament and won the event with the result of two below-par.
Matloob Ahmed took the prize for second position with the result of one above-par and Adil Jehangir with Muhammad Tahir – who was leading the event on the first day – shared the third position with two above-par at the Airmen Golf Course PAF Base Korangi Creek.
The competition featured 300 golfers, including 113 professionals from all over the country for the prize money of Rs3 million.
Although Tahir began the day in a winning position with a lead of four under-par with the gross score of 140, he eventually lost his advantage. Similarly Jehangir, who was among the leaders, went down on the last day as Islamabad’s Iqbal took the lead with the score below-two-par.
Top-seeded Iqbal said the local tournaments will help him prepare for this year’s Asian Golf Tour.
Iqbal and Muhammad Munir had created history three years ago when they became the first Pakistan golfers to qualify for the World Cup held in China.
“Funding is a big issue for us,” said Iqbal. “Sponsorship is vital to resolve our problems in order to improve the game and play abroad. Pakistan golfers have enough talent to win tournaments abroad.”
In other events at the 32nd CAS Open, Mohammad Yasir Khokar won the Amateur’s trophy on the net score and Taimoor Khan followed him in second position jointly with Mohammad Shahbaz. Meanwhile, Ghazanfar Mehmood won the amateur’s event on the gross score, along with Waseem Rana claiming second spot and Zohaib Asif coming in third.
Aania Farooq won the women’s title on the net score, while Humaira Khalid took the first position according to gross score in the ladies category.
The senior professional event was won by Mehmood Kiani with Ghulam Nabi coming in second and Abdul Ghani securing third place.
The CAS Championship was introduced in 1977 and has been an annual feature in PGF and PAF annual sports calendars ever since.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2013.
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