World Open: Nasir sets up last-32 clash with Ghoshal

Pakistani squash player defeats Sharpes; compatriot Farhan exits event

KARACHI: Pakistan’s highest ranked Professional Squash Association (PSA) player, Nasir Iqbal, moved into the last 32 of the World Open after beating qualifier Charles Sharpes of England 3-0 at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

Sharpes fought hard in the first game, but Nasir came out on top to clinch an early lead in the match. The remaining two games proved to be easy pickings for the Pakistani as he went on to triumph with scores of 13-11, 11-5 and 11-8 in 42 minutes.

He will now take on 14^th seed Saurav Ghoshal of India in their last-32 clash on Monday.

Meanwhile, Farhan Zaman crashed out of the event after losing 3-1 against world number 22 Egyptian Fares Dessouki in his opening-round match.

Farhan, currently ranked 67, tried to match the game of a more superior opponent but failed to do so convincingly. Dessouki won the first game and then the following one, during which he did not give away a single point. This propelled Farhan to stage a comeback to put the scoreboard at 2-1. Despite Farhan’s efforts, Dessouki held on to his nerves in the fourth game to win by scores of 11-8, 11-0, 6-11 and 11-9.

After the match, Farhan said that it was his first experience playing at the biggest stage in squash and he has learned a lot from it.

“This is the first time I entered my name at the World Open and it turned out to be a whole new learning experience for me,” Farhan told The Express Tribune.

“I’ve learned that you need to be patient in order to get winners against top players because they don’t give you easy points. I also felt that there was not such a big difference between us and the top players; it’s more about the mental toughness that we need to work on.”

In another match, Hong Kong’s Max Lee came back from 1-2 down to beat Farhan Mehboob 3-2 by scores of 11-7, 10-12, 11-13, 11-7 and 11-3.

 

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