National Golf Championship: Young Omar Khalid, Salman Khan share lead

KARACHI: The talented 16-year-old Omar Khalid closed on the top of the leader-board with an amazing round of one-under-par 71 on the second day of the 60th National Amateur Golf Championship at the Karachi Golf Club.

Omar, 16, who is one of the leading junior players of the country, showed that he also belongs to the top-level when he made five birdies on Friday to share the lead with Islamabad’s Salman Khan.

Salman compensated his opening round score of 80 with the day’s best round of 68. Both Omar and Salman are jointly placed at the top of the leader-board with 148.

Omar’s solid round was instrumental in helping Sindh A win the coveted Inter-Association Golf Championship for the first time in nine years. The two-day championship, which ran concurrently with the National Amateurs, concluded on Friday.

Sindh A, captained by Mansoor Teli and including Omar Khalid, Saim Shazli and Arsalan Shikoh, aggregated 445 points, winning the trophy by nine strokes. Together with Omar, Arsalan (72) and Mansoor (76) made sure that Sindh-A claims the trophy convincingly.

Defending champions Federal Golf Association made a stunning comeback on day two with the help of excellent performances from Salman Khan, Umer Khokhar, and Yasir Khokhar.

They finished second with an aggregate of 454. Punjab B finished third followed by Sindh B, Punjab A, and KPK.

Meanwhile, among the amateurs, the trio of Omar Khalid, Salman Khan, and Umer Khokhar stood out on day two of what is the most prestigious golf championship of the country.

Salman was in top gear as he made seven birdies on his way to a stunning round of 68.

Omar, who won the 2020 Faldo Series Pakistan title, made birdies on holes 1, 10, 15, 16, and 18.

Islamabad’s Umer Khokhar, the reigning Pakistan No 1, was also in great form, firing a round of 71 to stay in contention for the title. Another top performer of the day was Karachi’s Arsalan Shikoh, who played a par round of 72. Just one shot behind Omar and Salman are the duo of Mansoor Teli and Umer Khokhar. Behind them are Ralfay Raja and Salman Jahangir.

In the senior amateurs’ category, Col Rustam Ali took a three-shot lead with a round of 74. He is followed by the duo of Zakir Hussain and Lt Col Asif Mehdi (77) and Azhar Abbas and Sohail K Rana (78).

Aania Farooq and Rimsha Ijaz are sharing the lead in the ladies category followed by the duo of Humna Amjad and Parkha Ijaz.

Following is the amateurs’ leader-board after the second round on Friday:

148: Omar Khalid, Salman Khan

149: Mansoor Teli, Umer Khokhar

151: Ralfay Raja

152: Salman Jahangir

153: Arsalan Shikoh, M.A Mannan

154: Saim Shazli, Ahmed Kayani

155: Omer Shikoh, Yashal Shah

156: Junaid Irfan, Damil Ataullah, Qasim Ali Khan, Nouman Ilyas, Mohsin Zafar

Senior amateurs’ leader-board after first round:

74: Col Rustam Ali

77: Zakir Hussain, Lt Col Asif Mehdi

78: Azhar Abbas, Sohail K Rana

79: Khurram Khan, Khalid Jameel Siddiqi, Haji Ishaq

82: Omar Bangash, Tariq Mehmood, Col Muhammad Shafi

Amateur Ladies leader-board after first round:

76: Aania Farooq, Risha Ijaz

79: Parkha Ijaz, Humna Amjad

80: Ghazala Yasmin

83: Abiha Hanim Syed

85: Tabassum Sharif

86: Bushra Fatima