Sadia, Israr fail to deliver medals in Samoa

Squash duo lose play-offs at the Commonwealth Youth Games.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Sadia Gul fought gallantly but lost her bronze-medal match at the Commonwealth Youth Games Squash Championships in Samoa as she went down 3-0 against Sri Lanka’s Mihiliya Methsarani.

Sadia had earlier lost to New Zealand’s Eleanor Epke 3-0 with scores of 11-8, 11-7, 14-12 and had qualified for the bronze medal play-off, which she lost to Methsarani.

The 17-year-old had made it to the semi-finals after an unexpected 3-1 win over India’s Harshit Jawanda in the last-eight, beating the third seed 7-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-9. Her first-round encounter against Australia’s Rachael Gibson was a smooth 3-0 sailing.

Meanwhile, Israr Ahmed was unable to compete in his bronze-medal match due to fitness concerns, thereby awarding a walkover and medal to India’s Velavan Senthilkumar.

Earlier, Israr retired in the third game of his semi-final against England’s Patrick Rooney, who won 11-8, 11-2, 11-0.

According to Pakistan team manager Rashed Muhammad, Israr was suffering from flu when he landed in Samoa, which worsened by the time the youngster reached the last-four.

The Lahore-based player had started off his campaign well, thumping Guyana’s Benjamin Mekdeci 11-6, 11-2,11-0 and then following up with a 3-1 victory over Australia’s Alex Eustace by 11-8, 11-6, 8-11, 11-3.

Rashed added that Sadia and Israr are slated to appear in the mixed double fixtures, but the coach is unsure of their participation owing to the latter’s state of health.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th,  2015.

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