Iqbal beats Danish to win squash event

Pakistan coach Gul satisfied with form of young players.

KARACHI: Nasir Iqbal overcame Danish Atlas 12-10, 11-3, 11-7 in the final to win the Pakistan International Circuit IV tournament yesterday.

Iqbal had secured his place in the final after Farhan Mehboob retired in the third set of the semi-final due to injury. Meanwhile, his opponent Danish had beaten Yasir Butt in the last-four.

Pakistan head coach Jamshed Gul said he was pleased with the progress of the young squash players of the country, who have started competing for major honours against the senior players – Aamir Atlas Khan and Mehboob – in the national and Professional Squash Association (PSA) events.

Danish, Iqbal and Farhan Zaman have outperformed the senior players in recent events. Aamir has been struggling with his form and has dropped from number 14 to 46 in the world rankings while Mehboob has suffered a similar fate, slumping from number 16 to 154.



Despite the youngsters also having fallen behind in their  rankings, Gul remains confident of their ability to win events in the near future.

“It’s heartening to see our young stars rising to the challenge of competing for trophies against the senior players,” Gul told The Express Tribune.

“The base has been set for the youngsters. They are now physically fit, which is very important to win the major PSA events. Results will come with time as the youngsters are constantly in search for success.”

Meanwhile, he stated that both Aamir and Mehboob remain key players for Pakistan with their experience of major matches but added that both players need to maintain their physical fitness to regain their previous stature.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2012.