ISLAMABAD - Top players qualified for the quarterfinals of the $10,000 Pakistan Squash Circuit-1 2018 after registering contrasting victories against their respective opponents in the main round matches played here at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Thursday.
In the men’s main round, top seed Farhan Zaman was up against youngster Abbas Zeb. Abbas started very brightly and kept the top seed under check and took the game 11-8 in just 7 minutes, Zaman then made a comeback after settling down and won the second game 11-3 in 5 minutes. He took third game 11-5 in 8 minutes and easily won the fourth 11-3 in 6 minutes to set up quarterfinal match against Zahir Shah.
Israr Ahmed hammered Haris Iqbal 3-0 in 30 minutes. Israr took the first game 11-4, won the second 11-7 and third 11-4 to set up quarterfinal against long time rival Asim Khan. Zahir Shah beat Qatari Umair Zaman 3-1 in 34 minutes, winning the match by 4-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8. Tayyab Aslam survived scare by young Mansoor Zaman Junior as he won the match 3-1. Tayyab took the first game 11-5, won the second 11-5 and took 9-6 lead in the third and then 10-7, but he made lot of mistakes and unforced errors, which allowed Mansoor to stage a comeback and took the third game 12-10. After losing the third game, Tayyab played fourth game cautiously and won it 11-5 to register uncomfortable 3-1 victory in 38 minutes and set up quarterfinal clash against Ammad Farid.
Former Pakistan No 1 Danish Atlas Khan was up against Zeeshan Khan. It took Danish a while to settle down in the match, as he was taken right down to the wire in the first game by Zeeshan before Danish winning it 12-10. After that, Danish played aggressive squash and won the second game 11-3 and third 11-7 to win the encounter in 28 minutes and set the quarterfinal date with magician Farhan Mehboob. It is very harsh on Danish, as he is making comeback and has to play the crucial quarterfinal against Mehboob.
Danish expressed his satisfaction over his fitness levels saying it is good that he is playing against Farhan Mehboob, which will be match of the tournament and it will be final before final. “I am focused and looking forward to give a tough fight to champion player,” he added.
Asim Khan beat Shoaib Hassan 3-0 in 19 minutes, winning 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 while in the last match of the main round, Farhan Mehboob struggled hard to beat spirited Syed Ali Mujtaba Bokhari by 3-1. Farhan Mehboob took the first game 11-8, won the second 11-6 and third game 11-9 to complete victory in 21 minutes.
In the women $5000 event main round, a major upset was recorded when top seed Noorena Shams was stunned by Noor-ul-Ain Ejaz in straight games, while other seeds had easy paths to the quarterfinals. Noor-ul-Ain upset top seed Noorena in just 7 minutes, winning the match by 11-3, 11-3 and 11-0 to set quarterfinal date with former Pakistan No 1 Zoya Khalid.
In the second match of the day, Zoya Khlaid beat Zahab Kamal Khan 3-0 in 15 minutes, winning 11-0, 11-8, 11-9. Muqaddas Ashraf beat Rushna Mehbooob 3-0 in 15 minutes, 11-9, 11-1 and 11-5 to set quarterfinal date with Madina Zafar, who beat Nimra Aqeel 3-1 in 20minutes, winning 11-3, 11-3, 10-12 and 11-6. Faiza Zafar best Aiman Shahbaz 3-0 in 14 minutes, winning 11-9, 11-8 and 11-4 to set quarterfinal date with Riffat Khan. Noor Ul Huda beat Komal Khan 3-2 in 31 minutes, winning the match 11-13, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 and 11-6 to set quarterfinal meeting with Amna Fayyaz. Riffat Khan routed Saima Shoukat 3-1 in 31 minutes, as she won the match by 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8. In the last match of the day, Amna Fayyaz beat Anum Mustafa 3-2 in 31 minutes, winning 11-4, 13-11, 7-11, 7-11 and 11-5.