ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: Pakistan’s best hope in the COAS International Squash Championship, Mansoor Zaman was on Saturday knocked out of the quarterfinals by Egypt’s Muhammad Abbas, leaving only Farrukh Zaman holding the fort for the hosts.

Much was expected from Mansoor, ranked No 16 in the world, especially after five of his compatriots were eliminated from the $25,000 tournament on the opening day Friday. But in what was the first big upset of the event, Mansoor could do little against his Egyptian rival falling 15-11, 6-15, 13-15, 8-15 on the centre court of the Roshan Khan Complex.

Abbas, No 35, will now play Farrukh Zaman in Sunday’s semifinals that also pits Omar Elborossy against the tournament’s top seed Karim Darwesh in an all-Egyptian clash.

Farrukh made his way into the semis with a hard-fought 15-13, 14-15, 15-12, 17-14 victory over Muhammad Ilyas, who showed no effects of Friday’s ugly on-court incident when he was pushed by Shahid Zaman injuring his left hand. Tournament officials ruled the act was deliberate and awarded that match to Ilyas, although he was two games down when the incident occurred.

Karim, at No 13, the best ranked player of the tournament, did not let an hour-long power breakdown affect his concentration in his quarterfinal against Australian John Williams. The other quarter between Elborossy and Muhammad Essam Hafiz was also interrupted.

Karim needed a total of 27 minutes on court to end the challenge of Williams 15-3, 15-11, 15-11 while Elborossy, No 24 stayed on course with a 36-minute 15-9, 15-12, 15-5 win over his compatriot Essam.

But all eyes were on the match between Mansoor and Abbas that lasted nearly 40 minutes, the longest quarterfinal of the day.

Mansoor, son of former world champion Qamar Zaman, started off slowly and fell behind 1-6 in the first game but quickly bounced back to level the scores at 7-7 and then surged ahead to win it.

The pattern of the second game initially was the same as the first with Abbas leading 6-1 at one stage. However, unlike the first, Mansoor just couldn’t catch up and gave up rather easily.

The third game was an engrossing affair with both players going neck and neck before Abbas broke clear at 12-12 to clinch the game.

Mansoor took the lead early in the fourth game, only for Abbas to come roaring back and wrap up the match, dealing a big blow to the hosts.

Results:

Quarterfinals: Karim Darwesh (Egypt) beat John Williams (Australia) 15-3, 15-11, 15-11; Omar Elborossy (Egypt) beat Muhammad Essam Hafiz (Egypt) 15-9, 15-12, 15-5; Muhammad Abbas (Egypt) beat Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) 11-15, 15-6, 15-13, 15-8; Farrukh Zaman (Pakistan) beat Muhammad Ilyas (Pakistan) 15-13, 14-15, 15-12, 17-14.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Semifinals: Farrukh Zaman (Pakistan) v Muhammad Abbas; Karim Darwesh (Egypt) v Omar Elborossy (Egypt).