Imran clinches seesaw final

Imran Shahzad climbs to top of national rankings after defeating Sohail Shehzad 8-6 in the Snooker Cup final.

KARACHI: Imran Shahzad climbed to the top of Pakistan’s national rankings after defeating Sohail Shehzad 8-6 in the 2010 Snooker Cup final that lasted for six and a half hours at the Karachi Club. Asjad Iqbal and Asian number two Mohammad Sajjad’s participation in the World Amateur Snooker Championship faded after they were knocked out before the semi-finals as Imran and Sohail booked their seats to the tournament to be held in December in Syria. During the week-long ranking tournament Iqbal fell from number one to eight while Sajjad slipped from the second place to number four.

In the final, Imran hit back in the second frame 94-15 after going down 75-23 in the first before the sixth-seeded Sohail won 86-16. Imran won the fourth frame 68-21 but Sohail gained the lead again as he won 86-34. But Imran fought back with a break of 123 in the next frame that was also the highest of the tournament and landed him a prize money of Rs5,000. The century break lifted Imran as he took the lead for the first time, winning the next frame 72-58 before Sohail equalised 4-4. The thrilling match continued as each player failed to maintain the lead for more than one frame. After being tied 6-6, Imran won the next two frames including another break of 102 in the 14th frame to clinch the final 8-6.

“It feels great to claim the top position. Now my focus is to perform well in the World Snooker Championship and retain the top ranking for a year at least,” Imran told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.