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KARACHI: Naveen Kumar Perwani overcame a spirited fight-back from Mohammad Yousuf in the final to win the Karachi Club Open Snooker Challenge 2006 here at the Amir Bakhsh Memorial Billiards Hall on Monday. Perwani won the best of 11 frame final 6-5 with the scores of 80-7, 24-74, 73-32, 118-5, 2-69, 55-40, 39-68, 16-74, 52-64, 60-15, 68-28. The final, featuring two of the top cueists of the country, was decided after a marathon four and a half hour battle that kept the audience on their feet until the very end. Perwani, an Asian Games medallist, and Yousuf, a former world champion, had reached the final after having toppled Vishan Gir and Atiq Latif Bakhsh respectively in the semifinals. While Perwani had outclassed Gir 5-1, Yousuf had to bring all his experience into play to edge out Atiq 5-4. Yousuf succeeded in avenging the defeat at the hands of the youngster in the final of the tournament last year. Atiq was dethroned but to his credit he went down fighting against a master craftsman who has so often come from behind in the big games. Atiq had forced his way into the semifinals by surprising top seeded Khurram Hussain Agha 5-2 in the quarter-finals where Yousuf defeated Sohail Shahzad by the identical margin. In the other quarter-finals, Perwani outclassed Bharat Satiani 5-1 and Vishan Gir trounced Salman Sheikh by the same scoreline. Rafiq Suleman, President, Karachi Club, was the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony held soon after the conclusion of the final. The Club’s Honorary Secretary, Yousuf Suleman, and General Manager, Aspi Mavalvala, holding key positions in the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA) as well, were also present on the occasion. Naveen became richer by Rs 20,000 by virtue of winning the second phase of the tournament while the runner-up, Yousuf, was compensated with Rs 12,000. The losing semifinalists, Vishan Gir and Atiq Latif Bakhsh, got Rs 6,000 each. The winner of the first phase, Qasim Kamani, was presented Rs 10,000 while Sarwar Siddiqui, the runner-up, was awarded Rs 6,000. Both the losing semifinalists, Aneel Bherwani and Bharat Satiani, received Rs 3,000 each. Following were the results of the knockout games of the second phase of the Karachi Club Open Snooker Challenge 2006: Quarter-finals: Mohammad Yousuf bt Sohail Shahzad 5-2 (25-64, 68-2, 59-9, 88-23, 47-60, 79-1, 68-17); Atiq Latif Bakhsh bt Khurram Agha 5-2 (15-74, 94-117, 87-9, 64-14, 25-69, 77-47, 62-2); Vishan Gir bt Salman Sheikh 5-1 (64-52, 54-78, 71-35, 56-6, 69-47, 68-48); Naveen Kumar Perwani bt Bharat Satiani 5-1 (17-60, 57-54, 76-14, 92-37, 68-34) Semifinals: Naveen Kumar Perwani bt Vishan Gir 5-1 (43-52, 71-49, 59-19, 71-19, 70-9, 69-45); Mohammad Yousuf bt Atiq Latif Bakhsh 5-4 (54-38, 38-63, 64-54, 2-73, 54-44, 24-55, 50-61, 80-28, 58-23). Final: Naveen Kumar Perwani bt Mohammad Yousuf 6-5 (80-7, 24-74, 73-32, 118-5, 2-69, 55-40, 39-68, 16-74, 52-64, 60-15, 68-28).
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