ISLAMABAD: Unseeded Farhan Mehboob caused a major upset on the opening day of the Serena Hotel-Chief of Air Staff International Squash Champio­nship on Saturday, when he overwhelmed fourth seeded Danish Atlas Khan to reach the quarter-finals here at the Mushaf Squash Complex.

Three other Pakistanis — Nasir Iqbal, Israr Ahmed and Tayyab Aslam — also qualified for the last-eight stage.

World No.113 Farhan, who had made the main round after winning qualifying round, took just 46 minutes to overcome Danish.

Danish, world No.79, looked dominant in the first game and took it 11-7.

However, Farhan made a resounding comeback in the second game, claiming it 11-4. He continued playing in the same style winning the third and fourth games 11-5 and 11-4, respectively, to win the match.

“I’m very happy. It was a tough match, defeating Danish Atlas was a big challenge. After losing the first game, I applied the technique of playing close game. Instead of hitting the ball directly on the wall, most of the time, I played indirect strokes, this helped me take charge and win the match,” Farhan said while talking to Dawn.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Shehab Essam defeated Lance Beddoes of New Zealand in an exciting five-game battle.

Beddoes overpowered Essam 11-8 in the opening game but lost the next game 6-11. Beddoes then launched a strong comeback to take the third game 11-5 convincingly.

In the fourth game however, Essam played aggressively and made no major mistake, outclassing his opponent 11-2.

In the decisive game, a composed Essam kept the Kiwi player under pressure, forcing him to make mistakes, winning the game 11-6 and with it the match.

Earlier, defending champion Omar Abdel Meguid of Egypt took only 28 minutes to outplay home player Waqar Mehboob in a lopsided three-game tussle.

After taking the first two games 11-5 and 11-5, the Egyptian faced significant resistance from Waqar in the third game. However, Meguid ultimately won the game 12-10 and the match.

Tayyab defeated compatriot Saqib Yousuf in straight games (11-6, 11-3, 11-7) as the match lasted just 29 minutes. Israr outclassed countryman Shahjahan Khan 11-9, 11-7, 12-10 in a 42-minute clash.

Nasir, meanwhile, was in fine touch against his fellow citizen Khawaja Adil Maqbool. In a one-sided match, Nasir outgunned his rival 11-1, 11-7, 11-4).

Earlier, Egypt’s Karim Al Fathi outplayed Aqeel Rehman of Austria 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 and Mohamed Abouelghar, also of Egypt, took only 18 minutes to overpower Pakistan’s Kashif Asif 11-1, 11-5, 11-4.

Chief guest Michel A. Galopin, general manager of Serena Hotel Islamabad and squash legend Jansher Khan were also present at the occasion.

Jansher reckoned staging the US$25,000 CAS International Squash Championship in Islamabad a major achievement.

“I hope in the next five years, we will manage to regain our glory in squash. Our players have the potential and skills, all they need is consistently tough training,” the legend told Dawn.

“I’m not satisfied with their physical fitness level and stamina. They will have to work hard to improve on this aspect and I am ready to help them.”

Jansher who was recently named adviser to Pakistan Squash Federation president, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, said he had been focusing on preparing the players for next year’s World Junior Championship.

“I’m ready to guide and train our players. We will put in all our efforts to recapture the lost glory [in the junior event],” the former world champion stated.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2015

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