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Referee’s decisions cost Pakistan victory: Gul

Bad calls forced Maria to lose Asian Squash Championship match, says coach.

Our Correspondent June 13, 2014

National player Maria Toorpakai Wazir had a great chance of beating Josh Chinappa, but lost 3-2 despite leading 2-1. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: Pakistan head coach Jamshed Gul has claimed that the referee robbed Pakistan of a victory in the women’s Asian Team Championship match against India, who eventually won 3-0 in the event being held in Hong Kong.

National player Maria Toorpakai Wazir had a great chance of beating Josh Chinappa, but lost 3-2 despite leading 2-1; she lost 13-11, 6-11, 13-11, 8-11 and 7-11.

“Maria was outstanding throughout the match but was robbed of a deserving victory,” Gul told The Express Tribune.

“Several calls went against her in the decider; otherwise, she would’ve easily won. First the referee changed two decisions against her despite initially giving them in her favour, and then three more calls went against Maria which upset the scenario.”

Gul stated that Maria’s victory would have proven pivotal in the tie and Pakistan would have gone on to create an upset.

The next match saw Samar Anjum losing 3-1 against seasoned player Aparajitha Balamirukan with a scoreline of 5-11, 7-11, 11-9 and 6-11.

“Samar played really well against a good opponent, but had Maria won the first match, it would’ve given a big lift to Samar as well,” added Gul.

In the dead rubber, Anaka Alankamony defeated Muqaddas Ashraf in straight games 5-11, 9-11 and 6-11.

Men’s team progresses to semi-finals

The male players continued their dominant run in the event as they thrashed Iran 2-0 in their quarter-final and will now meet Kuwait on Sunday in the last-four match.

Pakistan’s top seed Nasir Iqbal beat Mohammad Reza Sadeghpour 3-0 with scores of 11-6, 11-3 and 11-5.

The good work was continued by the team’s best player Farhan Mehboob, who emphatically defeated Sanaee Mohammad Hussein in straight sets.

Farhan won by 11-4, 11-4 and 11-3 and the teams decided not to play the dead rubber. The other semi-final of the competition will be played between Malaysia and India.

The last edition of the tournament was won by Pakistan under the captaincy of Farhan Mehboob.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.

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