The 19-year-old won his first international tournament of the year. PHOTO: WSF
KARACHI: Nasir Iqbal clinched the Men’s Emerson Racquet Club Squash Pro Series 2014 as he defeated Germany’s Raphael Kandra 3-1 at the Racquet Club in Missouri, US on Sunday.
The 19-year-old won his first international tournament of the year.
Last year, the Bannu-based player won two international tournaments held in Pakistan. This was his first win in
the US.
The talented player took the first game 11-9 from Kandra. However, the second seed won the second game 16-14 to level the match 1-1.
Iqbal bounced back to take the third game 11-7 and went on to seal the victory in the match and the tournament by winning the fourth game 11-2.
Iqbal clinched the title and bagged $10,000 as the prize-money.
Earlier, he took only 30 minutes to defeat the third seed, Mexico’s Arturo Salazar 3-0 in the semi-final, while Kandra outplayed fourth seed Qatar’s Abdulla Mohammad Al Tamimi 3-1 to book his place against Iqbal in the final.
This was Iqbal’s sixth Professional Squash Association (PSA) title, according to the website www.squashinfo.com.
The spokesperson for the event Tim Kelley reported that Iqbal celebrated his win on the court by kneeling down and kissing the hardwood after the match.
Iqbal is currently ranked 53rd in the world. He will be taking part in the Men’s Atlanta Open 2014 from Tuesday. He is seeded third in the event and will face Ireland’s Sean Conroy in the opening match.
Pakistan’s Farhan Zaman and Yasir Ali Butt will also compete in Atlanta as fifth and sixth seeds respectively.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2014.
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I've heard a lot about this young kid. All the best mate!