ISLAMABAD - Farhan Zaman and Farhan Mehboob will vie for top honour in the 10th DG Rangers Sindh National Squash Championship 2016 final to be played here at the Roshan Khan Jahangir Khan Squash Complex today (Thursday).
Both Farhans carved out contrasting victories in the semifinals against their respective opponents on Wednesday. In the first semifinal, Farhan Zaman brushed aside youngster Asim Khan 3-0 in just 32 minutes. It was amazing first game played between the two players. Asim utilized all his skills to keep Zaman on the run, who was finding it very difficult to match the speed and agility of Asim. Zaman’s experience made the difference in the end, as he took the first game 11-8.
It was all Zaman in the second game, as Asim was not even close to what was witnessed in the first game and was simply outclassed by Zaman, who wasted very little time to win the game 11-2. The real contest was witnessed in the third game, as Asim bounced back in style and was close to win the game, as he was enjoying hefty lead over Zaman, but he committed too many unwanted errors, which cost him dearly in the end. Zaman never required second invitations so he started playing aggressively and won the third game 12-10.
Veteran Farhan Mehoob had to dig deep to beat Tayyab Aslam 3-1 in 51 minutes of high class squash. It was battle royal witnessed by the pack–to-capacity crowd and there was hardly any dull moment in the match. Tayyab gave his all to try to beat the magician, but Mehboob held on firm and proved that till date he is the most gifted player of modern era.
The first game kept on swinging from one way to another, Tayyab had a number of chances to wrap up the game, but Mehboob denied him thrice and took the game 12-10. After nearly winning the first game, Tayyab started the second game well and took the game 13-11 after a tough battle. The third game also started in high tempo, but this time Mehboob was not in a mood to allow Tayyab room and space, as he played extremely well and won the game 11-7. The same was the case in the fourth game, as Mehboob played very calmly and took the game 11-8, thus entered yet another final.
In the ladies semifinals, top seed Sadia Gul hammered veteran Saima Shoukat 3-0 in just 29 minutes. Sadia was in supreme form and displayed best squash on the day, as she took the first game 11-2, won the second game 11-4 and third 11-6 to set final date with Sammar Anjum, who thrashed Zahab Khan in the second semifinal 3-0 in 26 minutes, with the scores of 11-4, 14-12 and 11-1.
In the boys’ U-17 semifinals, Zeeshan Zeb beat Saad Abdullah 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8 in 38 minutes, Uzair Raseed beat Haris Qasim 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5 in 46 minutes. In the boys’ U-15 semifinals, Uzair Shaukat beat Humza Sharif 13-11, 18-20, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10 in 60 minutes and Rashid Daulat beat M Saqib Iqbal 13-15, 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 in 45 minutes.
In boys’ U-13 semifinals, Waleed Khalil beat M Ammad 12-10, 11-4, 11-6 in 30 minutes and Tayyab Rauf beat Fahad Sharif 11-7, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6 in 40 minutes. In boys’ U-11 semifinals, Humza beat Abbass Nawaz 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5 in 48 minutes and Usman Nadeem beat Mutahir Ali Shah 11-3, 8-11, 11-13, 11-5, 11-4 in 35 minutes.
In girls’ U-19 semifinals, Noor ul Huda beat Komal 12-10, 3-11, 11-9, 11-9 in 26 minutes and Aiman Shehbaz beat Meyral Shaikh 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6 in 40 minutes. In the girls’ U-15 semifinals, Aman Fayyaz beat Ilsa Imran 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 in 20 minutes while Noor ul Ain beat Zainab Khan 10-12, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 in 30 minutes.