Lahore - All the seeded players qualified for semifinals of the SNGPL Pakistan International Squash Circuit-II Men’s and Women’s 2018 after defeating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals played here at the Punjab Squash Complex courts on Thursday.
In the first quarterfinal of the day, top seed of the tournament Farhan Zaman outsmarted wildcard entrant Kashif Asif by 11/6, 11/5, 11/9. Kashif, who earlier upset seeded player Israr Ahmed, had no answers to powerful shots and technical game of Farhan Zaman and lost his encounter 3-0 in just 19 minutes.
Another Pakistan squash hope Farhan Mehboob, who is sixth seed, once again showed his class against spirited 3rd seed Asim Khan by defeating him 7/11, 11/9, 13/11, 8/11, 11/6 after a tough battle of 79 minutes. Both the players weren’t ready to give up and continued their struggle till the end but it was Farhan Mehboob, who kept his nerve and finally prevailed over his opponent to win the marathon match by 3-2.
Another match of the day was contested between 4th seed Tayyab Aslam and 7th seed Amaad Fareed and the ultimate winner was Tayyab Aslam, who won the epic encounter by 3-2 in 67 minutes. Tayyab though couldn’t start well as he lost the first game by 9/11, yet he made a strong comeback and won the next two games in a row by 11/3 and 12/10. Amaad then changed his game plan, which paid dividend as he succeeded in winning fourth game 11/9. In the fifth and decisive game, Tayyab faced tough resistance from his opponent before winning it 11/9, thus he recorded a hard-fought and well-deserving victory against Amaad.
Young talent Ahsan Ayaz beat Syed Azlan Amjad by 7/11, 11/3, 11/4, 11/5 in 28 minutes. Today (Friday), Farhan Zaman will take on Farhan Mehboob in the first semifinal at 4:00pm while Tayyab Aslam will vie against Ahsan Ayaz in the second semifinal at 4:45pm.
In the senior women quarterfinals, Saima Shaukat thrashed Noorena Shams 11/0, 11/2, 11/3 in 11 minutes, Madina Zafar routed Zahab Kamal Khan 11/4, 11/3, 11/6 in 14 minutes, Faiza Zafar outlasted Noor Ul Huda 11/3, 11/6, 11/6 in 17 minutes while Riffat Khan beat Zoya Khalid 9/11, 11/3, 9/11, 11/4, 11/5 in 42 minutes. Today (Friday), Saima Shaukat will face Madina Zafar challenge in the first semifinal at 2:30 pm while Faiza Zafar will vie against Riffat Khan in the second semifinal at 3:15pm.