Daily Times

LAHORE: The five-day PGF Match Play Golf Championship, in progress at the par 72 Royal Palm Club Golf Course, entered the quarterfinal stage after the completion of three rounds here on Friday. While the professional players seek honours and lucrative cash prizes, the amateurs hope to earn more recognition, experience and public appreciation. The competition format yesterday was match play and battling it out for supremacy were 16 top professionals of the national arena and 16 capable ones amateurs.

And in the contests on Friday those who stayed on the winning march were mostly the top ranked ones. M Munir (Rawalpindi) beat Arif Ali (PTV) in the opening match, Muhammad Shahzad (Garrison) beat M Rehman (Royal Palm), Talat Ijaz (Gymkhana) beat Muhammad Saeed (Royal Palm), Talib Hussain (Islamabad) beat Usman Ali (Garrison), Muhammad Alam (Defence Raya) beat Suleman Akhter (Gymkhana), M Tariq (Islamabad) beat Matloob Ahmed (Garrison), M Shabbir (Islamabad) beat Syed Raza Ali (PAF Skyview) and Ahmed Baig (PAF Skyview) beat Kamran Shafiq (Gymkhana).

The only upset of the day was the loss of Matloob Ahmed, the super one of Pakistan, to a lesser known M Tariq. Only eight professionals will compete in the quarter finals on Saturday and lineup will be: Muhammad Munir vs M Shahzad, Talat Ijaz vs Talib Hussain, Muhammad Alam vs Muhammad Tariq, Muhammad Shabbir vs Ahmed Baig. In the race for match play ascendancy amongst amateurs, the triumphant ones were Qasim Ali Khan (Gymkhana), Syed Shaim Shazli (Karachi Golf Club), Hussain Hamid (Royal Palm), Danish Javed (Gymkhana), Salman Jehangir (Gymkhana), Nasir Irshad (Gymkhana) Muhammad Arsalan (Gymkhana) and Mohammad Zain (KHR). And the lineup for quarterfinals on Saturday will be: Qasim Ali Khan vs Syed Saim Shazli, Hussain Hamid vs Danish Javed, Salman Jehangir vs Mohammad Zain and Nasir Irshad vs Muhammad Arsalan;