Asian Team Squash Championship: Pakistan book spot in semis against India

National trio face arch-rivals on the back of three straight wins

KARACHI: Pakistan set up a semi-final date with arch-rivals India in the ongoing 18th Asian Team Squash Championship after beating Iraq 2-0 in quarter-finals played in Chinese Taipei, Taiwan.

Top seed Farhan Zaman ensured a bright start for Pakistan as he beat Husham Abdulkareem 3-0 with scores of 12-10, 11-5, 11-8.



Tayyab also won with a similar scoreline against Mohammed Ferman, who showed some fight in second and third games, with scores of 11-1, 13-11, 11-9. Pakistan opted not to play the third dead rubber, thereby resting senior player Farhan Mehboob ahead of the mouth-watering clash against India today.

Earlier in the pool stage, Pakistan beat Singapore and Sri Lanka 3-0 respectively in Group B.

In their final group match, Pakistan were given a tough fight by the Sri Lankan players as Tayyab and Mehboob had to dig deep, but ultimately gave Pakistan a 3-0 victory.

Tayyab was given a tough time by Ravindu Hashintha after he had won the first game 11-5. However, he managed to ensure victory as he won with overall scores of 11-5, 11-9, 12-10.



Gihan Dasunka also put up a good fight against Mehboob, who managed to win 11-5, 12-10, 13-11.

On the other hand, Zaman had hardly any problems in winning his match as he thrashed Mohamed Shamil 3-0 with the help of an emphatic scoreline reading 11-2, 11-5, 11-8.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2016.

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