ISLAMABAD - Nasir Iqbal and Farhan Zaman entered the main round of the $150,000 Tournament of Champions after carving out sensational victories against their respective opponents in the final qualifying round matches played in New York on Thursday.
Last time in 2013, Yasir Butt was the last Pakistani to play in the main round, while Jansher Khan was the last Pakistani to win this prestigious event way back in 1995. Pakistanis had dominated this event and had won 22 times in total. The mega event was started way back in 1930.
Nasir played his match against Scottish Alan Clyne, who had loads of PSA experience behind his back. Although Nasir won 3-1 in 67 minutes, but it was not an easy victory. The score doesn’t present the actual picture of the match. Nasir settled down quite well in the first game and comfortably took it 11-4 in just 9 minutes. He was equally good in the second game and played some quality drop shots and kept Alan on the run and took the game 11-6 in 11 minutes.
The real battle started in the third game, as both players kept pressure on each other while score line continued to change in one way to another. Nasir had the chance of wrapping up the match as he was leading 10-9, but he made a huge blunder by hitting the ball into the tin. Alan took full advantage of the mistake and won the game 12-10 in 27 minutes.
Nasir then played more aggressively and changed his strategy which paid great dividend, as Alan looked nervous and was not able to meet with Nasir’s pace and aggression. Nasir wasted very little time and took the game 11-7 in 20 minutes to book main round date with Australian world number 18 Ryan Cuskelly.
Farhan Zaman beat British Declan James 3-1 in 50 minutes to set main round date with Hong Kong world number 15 Max Lee. Farhan easily took the first game 11-2 in just 6 minutes. But Declan then bounced back well and took the second game 11-8 in 14 minutes. In the third game, Farhan looked more composed and relaxed and never looked in a panic situation. He played sensible squash and took the third game 11-8 in 20 minutes.
After playing so well in the two games, Declan ran out of gas. Farhan just played superfast game, which put enormous pressure on Declan and he was not able to match fire with fire and lost the game 4-11 in 10 minutes.
Talking to The Nation from USA, Tahir Iqbal, who is coach and brother of Nasir Iqbal from USA, said: “Tears started pouring out of my eyes as it was great sigh of relief while watching two Pakistanis making it to the main round, a rare feat, which was not witnessed for the last three years or so.”
“I want to give credit to Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) and Shahid Zaman Khan, who completely transformed Farhan Zaman and made him a completely different player. Now his body language is different and he looks hungry to win and does not feel shy in playing against any given opponent, a sign, which was missing from Farhan’s game. He was not mentally and physically strong, when he was playing in Pakistan, but after spending time with Shahid Zaman, he had taken giant strides and managed to even beat Nasir, who is higher in rankings,” he added.
Former world squash champion Jahangir Khan said the boys had shown glimpses of what they could do. “If they play according to their potential and commit fewer mistakes, they can beat any given player. I am happy Pakistan squash is gradually moving towards right direction and I hope this spell will further flourish.”
Sharing his views, Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Group Captain Amir Nawaz said Jahangir Khan’s one-week training with Nasir and Farhan was main reason behind their constant rise. “I would also like to say a special thanks to Shahid Zaman Khan, who worked very hard with Farhan Zaman in USA. Farhan skipped both $25,000 events in Pakistan just for training purposes and I am glad, he has proved his worth. I hope both the players will further make inroads in the event and try to lift the trophy after more than two decades.”