Sajjad wins national snooker title

Asjad fails to beat his mentor once again

KARACHI: Fourth seed Mohammad Sajjad won the 42nd National Snooker Championship by outwitting eighth seed Asjad Iqbal in the all-Sargodha final here at the Karachi Gymkhana on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Sajjad annexed the national crown for the third time in his decade-long career as he in tamed his own protégé Asjad 8-6 in the best-of-15-frame final with the scores of 66-54, 31-70, 7-93, 44-83, 108-25, 66-32, 78-57, 35-76, 75-61, 79-35, 54-58, 1-109, 71-47, 80-47.

But Asjad, 25, did not let his mentor run away with it either as fortunes fluctuated in what turned to be an absorbing contest.

Asjad was leading 3-1, having fired a break of 62 in the third frame, before Sajjad took control with a frame of 60 in the sixth frame and sustained the momentum to go 4-3 up.

The youngster drew level by taking the eighth frame but Sajjad won the next two frames to make it 6-4.

Asjad showed great resilience by pocketing the tensely fought 11th frame and then shifted gears with a break of 109 in the next frame to make it 6-all.

Sajjad’s experience came handy in the critical moments as he won the next couple of frames on a trot to seal his victory, not letting it go to the full distance of 15 frames.

Interestingly, Sajjad had also defeated Asjad, then only 18, in the final while reclaiming the national title in 2010.

He had become the national champion for the first time in 2008.

“Yes, Asjad, having been trained by me, has never beaten me in any knockout game of the national ranking tournaments,” Sajjad said when asked if he has ever been defeated by his pupil.

“It was seven years ago that I won the national championship. This success was long overdue. I was winning other titles during this period, but was somehow unable to lay hands on this trophy.   “Thankfully now the wait is over and I am satisfied,” he stated in a brief chat with ‘The News’.

Sajjad collected a purse of Rs100,000 from Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair, alongwith the glittering trophy.

Asjad received a cheque of Rs50,000 with the runner-up shield.

The losing semi-finalists, Shahram Changezi and Nadir Miran, got Rs20,000 each.

The losing quarter-finalists were paid Rs10,000 each, while the losing pre-quarter-finalists were given Rs4,000 each.

Zulfiqar Abdul Qadir won an award of Rs10,000 for chalking up the highest break of 138. Rs2,000 was awarded for each of the 19 century breaks registered during the tournament.

Separately, the governor announced a reward of Rs300,000 for Sajjad and Rs200,000 for Asjad.

Sajjad and Asjad, by virtue of their performance in the National Championship, will now represent the country in the Asian Snooker Championship in Doha next month.

Tahir Ahmed, Managing Director, Jubilee General Insurance, vowed to continue sponsorship for snooker.

Also present on the occasion were Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) president Munawwar Hussain Shaikh, co-chairman Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, senior vice president Jawed H Karim, honorary secretary Zulfiqar Ali Ramzi, Karachi Gymkhana president Fawad Salim Malik, and Mohammad Ali, Business Unit Head, Geo Super.