Munir, Shabbir claim first-round lead

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.

Shabbir made a strong start with birdies on the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth holes. He couldn’t keep up that hot putter on the back nine, managing just one birdie on the 14th that cancelled out the bogey on the 10th.

Taimoor struck four birdies in his bogey-free round while Khalid Khan hit five birdies in his 68.

Imran Ali Khan, Mohammad Alam and Ansar Mehmood were in a group of golfers at 70 with a group of 13 golfers, including Matloob Ahmed and Waheed Baloch a shot adrift.

Another 12 golfers hit a 72.

“A lot of golfers are bunched very closely so the next two days will be very interesting,” Matloob told Dawn, adding he “wasn’t very happy” with his putting.

In the junior professionals competition, Shahzad Khan and Abdul Wasif are tied at the top on 74, a shot ahead of Akash Bashir and Faizan Ali.

Tahir Naseem shot a 70 to take the lead in the senior professionals’ category, holding a one-shot advantage ahead of Nasir Hussain and Mohammad Javed.

In the amateurs’ contest, Sameer Sayeed shot a 75 to take a three-shot lead over Waqas Burki and Saim Shazli at the end of the first 18 holes.