ISLAMABAD   -   Asim Khan continued his winning streak as he registered another upset victory against top seed Tayyab Aslam 3-2 in the $10,000 Pakistan International Squash Tournament 2019 semifinals played here at Mushaf Squash Complex on Thursday.

It was expected to be one-sided affair in the first men’s semifinal, as hot favourite Tayyab was up against inconsistent Asim, who has reputation of throwing away matches due to his non-serious and childish attitude, but to utter surprise, Asim recorded another surprising triumph against the top seed.

In the first game, Tayyab stamped his authority and put Asim under enormous pressure, which helped the top seed take the first game 11-6. Tayyab continued his dominance in the second game as well as he played superbly and won the game 11-3. After such a power show, it was being expected that Tayyab will simply outclass Asim to register victory and book final berth but the casual approach of Tayyab cost him dearly and helped Asim make a good comeback and win the third game 11-9.

The fourth game was identical to the third one as Tayab once again took commanding lead and then allowed Asim to stage another comeback, who played superbly and went on to take the fourth set 11-9 to square the things at 2-2. In the fifth and decisive game, both the players displayed top class squash and gave each other tough time.

Asim matched fire with fire and answered all the shots thrown at him very well. He was playing like a true champion while Tayyab was looking surprised as well as frustrated because he was not expecting such a display of powerful shots from his opponent. Asim gradually built up the lead and after few anxious moments and surviving barrage of attacks, he took the fifth game 11-8, thus won the marathon encounter of 90 minutes 3-2.

In the second semifinal, Farhan Mehboob outsmarted Ammad Fareed 3-0. Ammad, who was fresh with USA experience as he recently returned from there, couldn’t handle the opponent’s shots and lost the first game 7-11. Mehboob continued attacking shots in the second game to win it 11-5.

The third game was an exhibition of class and quality as Mehboob was trying to finish the encounter, while Ammad was fighting for his survival in the match. It was a close affair as the game kept on swinging form one way to another. Mehboob then utilized his experience and skills and played some brilliant drop shots to win the third set 11-9, thus breezed into the final where he will vie against Asim today (Friday).

In the $5000 women event, Amna Fayyaz and Muqaddas Ashraf emerged as winners in the semifinals and will take on each other in the final today (Friday).

Earlier in the first semifinal, former Pakistan No 1 and lone international player Maria Toorpakai faced 2-3 defeat at the hands of Amna Fayyaz. Maria, who had gained a lot of weight, was being expected to earn a place in the final but Amna surprised all by edging past Maria.

Amna won the first game 11-7 and then Maria fought back well to take 7-2 lead. Amna once again showed her class and reduced the lead to 5-7, but her three unforced errors cost her dearly, thus she lost the game 9-11.

The third set was played in the similar manner as Maria was first leading 7-4 and then Amna reduced the deficit to 6-7 before committing errors and lost the game 7-11. In the fourth game, Amna showed fighting skills and played superbly to overcome Maria 11-5.

The fifth and decisive game was almost in the pocket of Maria, who had match ball twice, but she failed to convert and then she paid a heavy price as Amna took the game 12—10, thus won the semifinal in 34 minutes.

In the second semifinal, old rivals Muqaddas Ashraf and Saima Shoukat were flexing their muscles against each other. Saima managed to win the well-contested first game 16-14, but Muqaddas then never allowed Saima any chance and won the next three games in a row 11-4, 11-4 and 15-13 in 26 minutes.