ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s bright future Farhan Zaman is keeping the country's flag high, as he moved to the semi-finals of the Florida State Open 2013 after brushing aside Mexico's Eric Galvez 3-1 at Boca Raton, USA on Saturday.
The tournament carries a purse of $10,000 prize money. Talking to The Nation from Florida, Farhan said: “I am very much delighted with the progress I have made during the last couple of months. I didn't even dream of achieving such a feat in short span of time. The credit of improving my game to such a level goes to head coach Jamshed Gul Khan while my father Fakhar Zaman’s able guidance and training has enable me to win one major event in US and to manage to reach semifinals of the last two successive events. I am already looking forward to win this event and if I play according to my potential, I will surely win it.”
“I am returning on December 12 to participate in the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Squash Championship starting in Karachi, where if things go right, I will be playing semifinals against Danish Atlas Khan, to whom I have recently beaten in the final of the Chief of Air Staff Squash Championship held in Peshawar, a feat achieved after more than 25 loses at the hands of the same opponent,” he added.
Farhan further said: “I have beaten Peter Creed of Wales in the previous match 3-0 and that win gave me a lot of confidence which will help me in the quarterfinal match against Eric, who has been enjoying much better PSA rankings.”
“It took me a little time to settle down in the match, Eric took full advantage of the situation and managed to win the first game 11-8. I then bounced back in the very next game and took the game 11-8 and in the third game, I used drop shots and powerful ground strokes to best of my abilities and took it 11-6 while in the fourth game, I also played well to win it 11-5, thus won the encounter in 40 minutes,” he stated.
“I am looking forward to my semi-final opponent, which will be decided after the last quarterfinals would be played. I am the second seed of the event and there is every chance that I may face the top seed of the event in the final. I have been working very hard and I will try my level best to lift the title for the people of my country,” Farhan concluded.