KARACHI: Former national champion Ghulam Nabi made a fairytale return to golf after recovering from a life-threatening disease when he won the senior professionals title at the 14th Sindh Open Golf Championship here on Saturday. Ghulam Nabi, who has recovered from a brain tumour, shot a stunning four-under 68 to win the crown by six shots here at the well-manicured Arabian Sea Country Club. The seasoned golfer is a six-time national champion and is regarded among the legends of Pakistan golf. He returned with a card of 74 on the opening day but was in full gear on Saturday to finish with an aggregate of 142. Ghani Khan shot a 75 to finish on a joint second place with Mehmood Kayani and Manzoor Ahmed (148). Akhtar Ali, Shaukat Ali and M.Iqbal were tied at 149. Ghulam Nabi’s title-winning triumph overshadowed the progress of Afzal Mohsin, who has catapulted himself within striking distance of winning the professional crown. Hyderabad’s Afzal made it clear that his six-under 66 in Friday’s opening round was no fluke as he fired yet another impressive score to take a three-shot lead over title favourite Shabbir Iqbal. Afzal of SRC Golf Club fired a three-under 69 to break away from joint leader Shabbir Iqbal, who struggled on Saturday before finishing with 73. Meanwhile, Islamabad’s Pervez Akhtar was the luckiest man on the ASCC course on Saturday when he sank a hole-in-one to win a brand new Suzuki car. His stunning feat came through a perfect tee shot on the 193-yard, par-3 13th hole. He double bogeyed on hole 12 before he approached the tee for the 13th hole and sank his shot to win the cherished prize. Only 15 days ago Daniyal Jehangir had won a Toyota Vigo champ with a hole-in-one at the CNS Open at Karachi Golf Club. In the amateurs’ category, Wasim Rana took a two-shot lead after firing an impressive 73 in the second round for an aggregate of 148. Ghazanfar Mehmood, with cards of 76 and 74 is in the second place with 150. Overnight leader M. Rehman of Royal Palm slipped to the third place after following up his first-round 73 with a disappointing 78. Islamabad youngster Mubariz Ahmed made amends for his poor showing on Friday, when he scored 79, by firing a round of 73 to stay in the hunt for the title. Local favourite Muhammad Ali Hai was disappointing in the second round when he scored 79 after a first-round 75. He was followed by Zohaib Asif who played a par round of 72. Other amateurs on the leaderboard included Salman Jehangir, Tariq Mehmood, Khalid Mehmood and ASCC’s Sajid Khan. Leaderboard: 135: Afzal Mohsin 138: Shabbir Iqbal 141: Waheed Baloch 143: Sajid Khan, Latif Rafique, Muhammad Munir 144: Ashir Masih, Shahid Javed 145: M. Asif, M Nazir, Ali Asghar 146: Ansar Mehmood, M.Sohail, Afsar Ali
