Pakistan's Owais Ahmed Wins WSOP Mixed Hi/Lo Event

Owais Ahmed has just won WSOP Event #47: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better tournament, after overcoming a field of 450 players and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi heads-up, to collect his first WSOP bracelet and the $255,959 first place prize.
The 27 year old Pakistani-born supply chain manager now lives in Irvine, California, but said winning the bracelet was an extra source of pride for his country of origin. As Owais Ahmed explains:
“I spent a lot of time in America, but my family is from Pakistan. I’m just representing Pakistan in the World Series of Poker. It’s a great honor. Growing up, I watched Pakistan win the Field Hockey World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, and now, Pakistan has a World Series of Poker champion. And that is a great honor for me.”
Despite his understandable exuberance, Pakistan has produced WSOP winners in the past, such as Hasan Habib and Ayaz Mahmood, although, like Owais Ahmed they are now residents of the USA.
The three day WSOP event saw a whole host of top pros enter the tournament hoping to win a gold bracelet and a share of the $1,023,750 prize pool.
Amongst those falling just short of WSOP glory was Barry Greenstein in 19th ($7,452), Chris Bell in 14th ($11,179), Scotty Nguyen in 5th ($53,091) and Abe Mosseri in 3rd place ($100,532).
Eventually going heads-up against top poker pro Michael “The  Grinder” Mizrachi,
Owais Ahmed found himself with a 3 to 1 chip disadvantage but soon managed to turn things around to relegate Mizrachi to a runner-up position worth $158,148.
In the meantime, Owais Ahmed collected the WSOP winners bracelet and $255,959 in prize money, and later reflecting on his final heads-up battle against Mizrachi, said:
“Actually, when we started the match, it was like a 50 to 1 crowd advantage for Mizrachi. I had a chip disadvantage. The whole room felt really small, and it felt like it was me against the world. I meditated a little bit, and I said, ‘You know, I am just going to come out and play my A-game, and that is going to win me that bracelet. The crowd doesn’t matter.’ I put my glasses on, I was in my zone, and when I do that, I am as good as anyone in the world.”