All eyes on Shabbir as UMA-CNS Open tees off today

KARACHI: Fresh from his back-to-back victories in the Sindh Open and UBL Independence Day Cup, Pakistan No. 1 Shabbir Iqbal will be looking for a hat-trick of titles by winning the UMA 22nd CNS Open Golf Championship which tees off here at the Karachi Golf Club from Thursday (today).

Shabbir has been in tremendous form since his arrival in Karachi earlier this month and has clinched the Sindh Open at Arabian Sea Country Club and the UBL Independence Day Cup at Defence Authority Country and Golf Club.

But he knows that the biggest event of the year – the UMA-CNS Open – is the all-important title that he has to regain after Matloob Ahmed walked away with the coveted crown last year.

With a record prize purse of Rs7 million, the UMA-CNS Open is by far the richest event on the national circuit. That’s precisely the reason why all top professionals of the country were busy giving final touches to their preparations for the prestigious championship.

Among Shabbir’s top rivals for the title will be the seasoned Muhammad Munir, who also hails from Islamabad. Then there is the defending champion Matloob Ahmed. Also fancying their chances will be Muhammad Nazir and Hamza Amin.

Karachi’s biggest hope will be Waheed Baloch, who will be hoping to end his awful run of form at KGC, his home club.Ghazanfar Abbas, KGC’s Chief Operating Officer, said that the course was in pristine condition to host the four-day championship.

He said that a total of 207 top notch golfers, both professionals and amateurs, will tee off on the opening day on Thursday.A total of 100 professionals will be vying top honours while 107 amateurs will also be taking part in the event.

Last year, M. Sharif won the amateurs’ title by four shots while Ali Hai was the runner-up. Among the favourites for the amateurs’ title this year are Ghazanfar Mehmood, Zohaib Asif, Ansar Mehmood and Saeed Khattak.

For the ninth straight year, United Marine Agencies (UMA) is the title sponsor of the championship.Sohail Shams, CEO of UMA, has promised that his company will continue backing golf in Pakistan.

“The UMA-CNS Open is undoubtedly the biggest platform for golf in Pakistan. I can proudly say that this is the symbol of our success in the quest of promoting golf in Pakistan,” he said.Hailed as the richest sporting event of Pakistan, the UMA-CNS Open is all set to once again feature the cream of national golf, in all categories.

The prize purse of the championship has been enhanced by Rs500,000 this year, making it the richest-ever event in Pakistan sports history.The professionals will be vying for top honours and a record prize purse of Rs6.5 million. The main championship was preceded by a special match for KGC caddies and semi-professionals that carried at stake prize money of Rs500,000.

In addition to the prize purse, the golfers will also have a chance to win two brand new cars — Toyota Fortuner and Suzuki Ciaz — during the Championship.