President Gold Cup: Iqbal upsets top seed Meguid to reach final

Pakistani squash player to face USA’s Harrity in decider

KARACHI: The President Gold Cup $25,000 International Squash Championship semi-finals on Monday witnessed the ouster of two top-seeded Egyptians, one of whom was defeated by local player Nasir Iqbal as he moved into the final of the competition.

Playing at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad, the 47th-ranked Iqbal got the better of senior player Omer Abdel Meguid, who is world number 31 at the moment and was the top seed for the competition.

Iqbal did not allow his opponent to dictate terms, winning 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-9 in 51 minutes to book his place in the decider where he will face USA’s Todd Harrity on Tuesday.

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“I’m really happy to beat a higher-ranked player like Meguid,” Iqbal told The Express Tribune. “He tries to milk his opponent for points by using his robust frame to block them while playing, but I managed to maintain a distance between us. This enabled me to hit winners whenever I wanted instead of playing on Meguid’s terms.”



In the other semi-final, world number 61 Harrity edged second-seeded Egyptian Karim Al-Fathi in a 46-minute five-setter, triumphing 11-8, 11-2, 6-11, 5-11, 11-4 against the world number 42.

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Iqbal remarked that Harrity was hardly someone to be taken lightly, with the American desperate for the title win to soar through the rankings. “My aim is to give it my all to win on Tuesday as I would get more than 400 points, and I’ll hopefully make my place among the top 35 squash players in the world with the victory,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2015.

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