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Published 22 Jun, 2012 12:06am

Asjad outclasses Shahram to land snooker crown

KARACHI, June 21: Promising Asjad Iqbal outplayed Shahram Changezi 7-2 in the best-of-13-frames Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship final to land back-to-back title, fourth of his career including the juniors, at the Karachi Gymkhana here on Thursday.

Asjad, who lost to Changezi 2-4 in the league, took a sweet revenge where it matters, notching up a commendable 75-45, 77-29, 44-60, 61-23, 73-50, 81-38, 66-1, 0-83, 54-21 victory to live up to his billing. The final lasted some three hours and 20 minutes.

Asjad, who topped group ‘B’ ahead of Changezi, sent Sultan Mohammad packing 5-0 in the quarter-finals, routed two-time national champion M. Asif 6-4 in the semi-final before going for the kill in the final.

Despite the triumph, Asjad is likely to retain his second spot in the next national rankings. Earlier, he leaped 14 places to occupy the second place after capturing the NBP Cup last month.

The final, unfortunately, fell short of expectation as Islamabad-based Changezi could not produce his best and only managed to win two frames.

It was a smooth sailing for Asjad who lose third and eighth frames, and enjoyed complete dominance.

The triumph earned the eventual champion a winning purse of Rs70,000 from sponsors Javed Ahmed while the runner-up received Rs40,000 from Shoaib Siddiqui.

Khurram Agha, a losing semi-finalist, earned some consolation by recording the highest break (134) award of Rs5,000. As many as five century breaks were registered during the contest.

PBSA president, Alamgir Shaikh, and secretary, Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, were also present on the occasion.

Result: Final: Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) bt Shahram Changezi (Islamabad) 7-2 (75-45, 77-29, 44-60, 61-23, 73-50, 81-38, 66-1, 0-83, 54-21).

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