KARACHI: In a riveting battle at the 48th NBP National Snooker Championship, Asjad Iqbal of National Bank emerged victorious, claiming his first national title after defeating Punjab’s Awaisullah Munir 7-6 here at the NBP Sports Complex Snooker Arena on Tuesday.

The frame scores of the final were 5-80, 99-14, 64-45, 64-08, 18-69, 42-64, 55-75, 42-55, 67-00, 71-21, 77-18, 48-92 and 55-40.

Asjad’s victory marked the end of his 15-year pursuit of the national title. The championship concluded with the announcement by Pakistan Billiard and Snooker Association (PBSA) chairman Alamgir Anwar Shaikh that both the first and second-place winners would represent Pakistan in the Asian Championship in June later this year.

“This was the only feather missing in my cap on the domestic circuit but thankfully I have achieved that too,” said Asjad, who counts Scottish cuesit Stephen Hendry as his inspiration, while talking to Dawn. “Now I will shift my complete focus towards Asian Championship and will try my best to bring laurels for my country.”

After an intense battle the match was tied at 6-6 and the final frame went to the wire as well. Asjad initially took the lead, but both players made crucial mistakes.

Awaisullah, who was playing his first final, had a chance to claim victory, but an imprecise shot on the brown ball allowed Asjad to capitalise.

The same brown ball which betrayed Awaisullah favoured Asjad as a fluke shot on brown hit the corner pocket but with a stroke of luck still went in the side pocket. The pot all but decided the match with the Sargodha-born Asjad sealing the title with a brilliant pot on the pink.

“You always need luck and some decisions in your favour to win championships,” the 30-year-old added. “At one point, I thought I was completely lost but I guess today after 15 years it was my day.”

In contrast, Awaisullah, the 2023 Punjab champion, said that he was really frustrated, for obvious reasons, when the brown ball went in.

“There are fluke shots in almost every match but at the clutch moment it happened, that was just frustrating,” said the Lahore-born Awaisullah. “But these things happen. I will learn from my mistakes and will try again.”

The seesaw contest began with the 30-year old Awaisullah taking an early lead but Asjad quickly stole the lead to go 3-1 up. Awaisullah made a comeback, reducing the deficit to 3-2. Both players displayed moments of brilliance and lapses in concentration, making the match unpredictable.

In the crucial sixth frame, Awaisullah capitalised on a lucky pot, securing his first lead of the frame with a score of 28-0. The battle for the yellow ball unfolded cautiously, with both players playing cover shots to not give other any opening.

But Asjad was the first to budge as trying to secure the pot he miscued a shot and Awaisullah got the chance to level the score at 3-3.

It seemed that the pressure got the better of both the players as the seventh frame was filled with some foul plays by Awaisullah and careless shots by Asjad.

Despite Awaisullah’s fouls, he managed to secure the frame, leading 4-3.

The eighth frame continued with missed opportunities and fouls, but again Awaisullah came out on top and extended his lead to 5-3.

Awaisullah, riding high on momentum, attributed a shift in the match dynamics to a 30-minute break as Asjad made a brilliant comeback and secured a 6-5 lead in the match by the end of 11th frame.

“That break really broke my momentum,” Awaisullah, who takes inspiration from British cuesit Ronnie O’Sullivan, told Dawn. “That was the turning point where he equalled the score and even took the lead. I wish there wasn’t a break,” he added.

On the other hand Asjad said that the break helped him re-energise and regain his focus.

The 12th frame brought a fantastic clearance from Awaisullah, tying the score 6-6, setting the stage for a decisive 13th frame in which Asjad triumphed.

“These type of back and forth matches can be draining and I really needed the break,” Asjad said. “I went downstairs in the break and I guess the change of scenery worked positively for me in the match.”

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2024