Shabbir Iqbal retains Sindh Open crown in style

KARACHI: Defending champions Shabbir Iqbal didn’t lead the leader-board on the first two days of the 19th Sindh Open Golf Championship.

He trailed a big group at the end of the first round in which he carded 71 and was again trailing several other contenders on Saturday despite firing 68.He was three shots off the pace at the start of the final round with top rival Muhammad Munir looking set to dethrone Shabbir as the Sind Open champion.But it soon became clear that Shabbir was saving his best for the last.

The big-hitting Shabbir, the reigning Pakistan No.1, fired a stunning round of seven-under par 65 to retain the coveted title. He won the three-day championship by three shots.He was in great form and made eight birdies in what were pleasant weather conditions at the Arabian Sea Country Club. Shabbir won with an aggregate of 204 (-12).

Muhammad Safdar was the runner-up with an aggregate of 207 while Muhammad Nazir finished third (210).It was a disastrous final round for Munir, who seemed set to win the title after accumulating a three-shot lead in the penultimate round. However, his game fell apart on Sunday and Munir had to settle with a joint fourth-place finish with 211 alongside M. Zubair and Matloob Ahmed.Ghazanfar Mehmood won the amateurs crown by a whopping 10-shot.