ISLAMABAD     -    Zeeshan Zeb beat Uzair Shaukat 3-2 to win the U-19 title, while Asad Ullah defeated Hamza Khan 3-1 to clinch the U-17 crown at the National Junior Squash Championship 2019 here at Mushaf Squash Complex on Monday.

Meanwhile, WAPDA’s Komal Khan beat Zainab Khan of Sindh 3-1 in 24 minutes with the scores of 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 and 11-5 to snatch the girls U-19 title at the championship. In the boys U-19 final, two of the brilliant squash players Zeeshan of KP and Army’s Uzair gave the thin crowd something to cheer about. The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) managed to pull some crowd for the first time, mainly based on families and relatives of the players. The arena was buzzing with lot of noise, as crowd was fully involved in all the three finals.

Uzair started the first game with confidence and managed to lead 6-1. But Zeeshan resisted with his fighting skills and level the game 6-6. Then Uzair never gave any chance to his opponent and claimed the game 11-8. The second game was played on a high-tempo, as both the players were fighting hard to get some points. But it was Uzair, who prevailed and took the game 13-11. He was also in leading position in the third game before committing some major errors. This proved enough for Zeeshan to stage a comeback and take the game 12-10.

Then Zeeshan ran out of gas and played senseless squash in the fourth game. He allowed too much liberty to his opponent, who easily grabbed the game 11-8 to force the final into the fifth game. The match again turned, as Zeeshan played some classic shots to take commanding 9-1 lead in the deciding game. Uzair remained under the pressure of his opponent, who took the game 11-3 to win the encounter in 49 minutes.

It was top seed Asad against Hamza in the boys U-17 final. After showing great performance, winning the first game 12-10 and leading 9-5 in the second game, Hamza ran out of energy and became hapless. It was almost impossible for him to even stand on his feet. Asad took advantage of the situation and took the second, third and fourth game 11-9, 11-2 and 11-3 respectively to win the encounter in 22 minutes.

Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Senior Vice President Air Vice Marshal Aamir Masood graced the closing ceremony as chief guest and awarded trophies and prizes to the position holders.

While addressing the audience, Aamir said: “The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will go to any extent to help the players, federation and officials. I congratulate the federation and players for conducting such a wonderful tournament. Pakistan will host PSA tournaments and send players abroad to produce a world champion.”

“I am a squash player and I know the requirements of squash players. I will ensure that they get all the required support for improvement and winning major titles. We had ruled the world in squash for 37 years. We are more than capable of doing so again. I am sure that our players will give their 100 percent and win laurels at international stage,” Aamir concluded.