KARACHI: Matloob Ahmed finished his round on Saturday and sat in the lounge overlooking the cloakroom at the Karachi Golf Club to give his legs a rest.
“They’re a bit stiff,” he said as he stretched them out after a four-under 68 that saw him displace his long-time rival Shabbir Iqbal atop the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round at the CNS Open Golf Championship.
Unlike Shabbir, who isn’t speaking to reporters until his self-imposed embargo till the end of the final round of the CNS Open Golf Championship, Matloob has no qualms. Indeed, he loves talking. Not just about golf but other things as well.
Shabbir cards 67 to take pole position in CNS Open Golf
July 10, 2021
KARACHI: Title favourite Shabbir Iqbal fired a sizzling round of five-under-par 67 to take a two-shot lead after the second round of the Engro 25th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Open Golf Championship here at the Karachi Golf Club on Friday.
Shabbir, who sees the picture-perfect KGC course as a happy hunting ground, was in his element as he made a series of birdies to propel himself to the top spot on the leader-board of the Rs8.5 million championship.
With first day’s leader Waheed Baloch carding a par round of 72, Shabbir now enjoys a clear lead with a two-day aggregate of 136 (-8).
March 7, 2021
In Pakistan the golfing authorities in the past allowed players who were actually professionals to compete in amateur tournaments
Saim Shazli stands proud with his glittering trophy. He has just won the prestigious Sindh Amateur Golf Championship title at the Karachi Golf Club. This is his second title of the season after having won the CAS Open amateur trophy at the Airmen Golf Club, also in Karachi. For several years, the big-hitting Saim had been a leading amateur in Pakistan but this is for the first time he has actually won ranking events.
The reason? For years, top amateurs of the country had been competing and falling short against professionals in national ranking amateur competitions.
SHABBIR Iqbal in action on Saturday.
KARACHI: It’s all set up to be a nerve-jangling final round at the CAS Open on Sunday.
Shabbir Iqbal surged to the top of the leaderboard after the third round at the Airmen Golf Club on Saturday.
But he’s just clinging on to the lead.
Shabbir hit two birdies but only managed a par 72, to end on three-under 213, a shot ahead of Mohammad Ashfaq (72) and two ahead of Mohammad Munir (69).
Hamza Amin, the joint overnight leader with Shabbir returned with a 75 and is now joint-fourth with Matloob Ahmed (70) on 216.
Waheed Baloch matched Munir for the day’s best of 69, the joint first-round leader five shots adrift.
Shabbir Iqbal. in fine touch once again.
KARACHI: Mohammad Munir and Shabbir Iqbal claimed the first-round lead at the Sindh Open Golf Championship, the duo firing 67 each here at the Arabian Sea Country Club on Friday.
That gave them a one-shot lead over Taimoor Khan and Khalid Khan and a two-stroke advantage over a group of three golfers including defending champion Ahmed Baig, Talat Ijaz and Mohammad Khalid.
“I’m happy with my showing overall even if I feel my putting wasn’t that good in the end,” Ahmed, who hit five birdies, told
Dawn.
Munir started off with a bogey but then reeled off four successive birdies at the end of the front nine. He had another bogey on the 13th but then hit back with birdies on the 15th, 16th and 18th holes to grab a share of the lead.