ISLAMABAD   -  Ammad Farid made a huge upset in the quarterfinals of the $10,000 Pakistan Squash Circuit 2018, as he thrashed seasoned campaigner Tayyab Aslam in straight games here at Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday.

Ammad Farid ousted former Asian junior individual champion Tayyab Aslam in straight games. Ammad comfortably won the first game 11-5, as Tayyab was struggling to find rhythm, but the second game was played on a very fast tempo, as both the players gave their hearts out to win the game, but lady luck favoured brave Ammad, who won it 15-13.

Ammad though faced some resistance in the third game but he continued to keep pressure on his opponent which paid off and he won the game 11-6 to complete memorable victory in 47 minutes. Ammad will face Israr Ahmed in the semifinal today (Saturday). In another major upset, Israr Ahmed downed second seed Asim Khan 3-1 in 72 minutes. Israr won the first game 11-8, lost the second 11-13, but won the third 11-6 and fourth 11-7 to register an upset win.

Farhan Zaman survived close scare of qualifier Zahir Shah, as he struggled hard to beat spirited Zahir. Zaman, who is not only Pakistan No 1 but also world number 86, is a slow starter and takes time before setting down. Same happened again, as it was Zahir, who simply dictated terms and kept Zaman under enormous pressure right from the beginning and outsmarted Zaman with his cunning moves and drop shots to win the first game 11-6.

The second game was also a very close affair and Zahir could have wrapped it up, but he let Zaman off the hook. Zaman never required any second invitation, as he took the game 11-8. It was once again Zahir, who was leading in the third game but Zaman staged a comeback and made it 8-8 and then 9-9, but Zahir managed to win two back-to-back points to take the third game 11-9.

After displaying top class squash, Zahir simply ran out of gas and it was the moment, Zaman was waiting for, as he gradually outdone Zahir with his masterful shots and won the fourth game 11-4. Zaman then took the fifth game 11-7 to win the nerve-wrecking encounter 3-2 in 42 minutes of high-class squash on offer. Zaman booked semifinal date with Farhan Mehboob.

Another well-fought encounter of the tournament was contested between maestro Farhan Mehboob and Danish Atlas Khan. Mehboob took the first game 11-9 and it was battle royal witnessed in the second game which proved to be a turning point, as Danish had at least three simple chances to wrap up the game, but he missed all of them, which cost him dearly in the end, as experienced Mehboob took the game 14-12.

Fighter Danish never gave up and kept on pushing and managed to break Mehboob strong hold to win the third game 11-6. But it was all he could get from the match, as Mehboob changed the gears and played some unbelievable drop shots, which not only stunned Danish but also helped Mehboob win the fourth game 11-6 to register yet another convincing victory in 39 minutes.

In the $5000 ladies event, no major upset was witnessed as all the seeded players advanced to the semifinals. Former Pakistan No 1 Zoya Khalid beat Noor Ul Ain Ejaz 3-0 in 17 minutes as she won the match 12-10, 11-4, 11-4. Madina Zafar should consider herself lucky as she was looking down and out against experienced Muqaddas Ashraf, but untimely injury left Muqaddas in tears, as she was hardly moving and had to concede the match. Muqaddas won the first game 11-6, but after twisting her ankle, she had to take 3 minutes injury break, but the injury had taken its toll, as Muqaddas was hardly moving, thus Madina was declared the winner. Madina will now take on Zoya in the first semifinal.

In another quarterfinal, Faiza Zafar beat Riffat Khan 3-2 in 35 minutes. Faiza lost the first game 4-11, but she made a comeback and took the second 11-2, lost the third 11-13, but won the fourth game 11-6 and fifth 11-6 to set semifinal date with Amna Fayyaz, who in the last quarterfinal beat Noor UI Huda 3-0 in just 17 minutes, with the scores of 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.