ISLAMABAD - Top seed Egyptian Youssef Ibrahim survived a close scare before overcoming spirited Asim Khan 3-1 in the $20,000 Serena Hotels-Huawei Pakistan International Squash Tournament 2019 quarterfinals played here at Mushaf Squash Complex on Tuesday.
In the first quarterfinal, Asim Khan was up against top seed Youssef Ibrahim. The match lived up to expectations, as Asim showed tremendous fighting skills before going down fighting 1-3 in 44 minutes of top class squash on offer. The first game was played on an electrifying pace, as both the players kept each other on the run to all corners of the court. After playing so well and making it 11-all, Asim lost the concentration and gifted the first game 13-11.
The second game was identical to the first one as both fought it out well but this time, lady luck favoured Asim, who took the game 13-11. The third game proved to be a one-sided affair as Asim was nowhere in the game and Youssef won it comfortable by 11-5. In the fourth game, it was once again Youssef, who held his nerves and played better squash to take the game 11-9, thus set semifinal date with Farhan Mehboob.
In another quarterfinal, Tayyab Aslam thrashed Egyptian Yahya Elnawasany 3-0 in just 20 minutes. It was master class performance by Tayyab, who was simply toying with the opponent, who had no answers to Tayyab’s pace and agility and was looking just a spectator in the entire match. Tayyab won the first game 11-2, took the second 11-8 and finished of the match by taking the third game 11-3 to set semifinal date with Egyptian Mohamed ElSherbini.
Pakistan’s one of the top players Farhan Mehboob played superbly against former Pakistan No 1 Farhan Zaman and outperformed him 3-1 in 20 minutes. Mehboob won the first game 11-2, then lost the second one 4-11. Mehboob once again started playing superb squash and won the third game 11-5 and took the fourth one 11-3 to make to the semifinals. In the fourth and last quarterfinal, Mohamed ElSherbini beat Portugal’s Rui Soares 3-0 in 34 minutes, winning the encounter 11-7, 11-9 and 11-7.
In the $12,000 Serena Hotels-Huawei Pakistan International Women Tournament, no major upset was witnessed as all the seeded players made it to the semifinals. Egyptian Hana Moataz beat compatriot Farah Momen 3-0 in 25 minutes, winning 11-7, 11-8 and 11-7, Farida Mohamed beat Waen Li Lai 3-2 in 40 minutes winning 11-6, 10-12, 7-11, 15-13 and 11-8, Meena Hamed beat Cindy Merlo 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 in 32 minutes and Sabrina Sobhy (USA) beat Nadia Pfister (Switzerland) 11-4, 11-7 and 11-2 in 16 minutes. Today (Wednesday), Hana Moataz will vie against Fariad Mohamed in the first semifinal while Meena Hamed will face Sabrina Sobhy in the second semifinal.