Pakistan beats India to clinch 16th Asian Team Squash Championship

Two Farhan's guide Pakistan past India to win the final 2-0.

KUWAIT: Pakistan's squash team beat India to clinch the 16th Asian Team Squash Championship in Kuwait on Saturday, Express News reported.

Pakistani duo of Farhan Zaman and Farhan Mehboob dispatched their respective opponents to clinch the competition 2-0.

Pakistan team, which was already missing its top seed, Amir Atlas Khan, took on ‘offence as the best defence’ as a strategy to get past its opponents.

Zaman squared off against India’s Siddharth Suchde in the first of the best-of-three final. He got off to a a confident start racing to a 2-0 lead. Suchde, however, staged a comeback and levelled the match at two sets all. They then battled out the third set where Zaman managed to prevail, winning 11-9.

India, needed to win their second match to keep hopes of a title alive. Farhan Mehboob took on India’s top-ranked player, Saurav Ghosal.

Mehboob, like Zaman got off to a good start, winning the first set 11-7. However, Ghosal came back and led 2-1. Mehboob, ranking 11 spots below Ghosal in Asian rankings, fought back and won the two subsequent sets to win the competition and ensure the title headed to Pakistan.

Earlier, Indian players had made history by qualifying for their first Asian Team Championship final.

Results

Farhan Mahboob (PAK) beat Saurav Ghosal (IND): 3-2 [11-7, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9]

Farhan Zaman (PAK) beat Siddharth Suchde (IND): 3-2 [11-6, 11-7, 11-13, 7-11, 11-9]