LAHORE/KARACHI: Pakistan Shaheens routed arch-rivals India by 128 runs in the final to clinch the ACC Emerging Asia Cup in Colombo on Sunday.
While Pakistan returned to the world squash podium on Sunday when young Hamza Khan beat Egypt’s Zakaria to win World Junior Championship in Melbourne.
In Emerging Asia Cup in Colombo, Pakistan, while floating on Tayyab Tahir’s superlative century, set a daunting target for India to achieve. Pakistan hammered 352 runs for eight and then reduced India to 224 in 40 overs to avenge their league round defeat in style.
Pakistan used six bowlers in defence of their target and five of them were successful in taking wickets. As Sufian Muqeem was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, Arshad Iqbal, Mehran Mumtaz and Mohammad Wasim got two wickets each while Mubashir Khan had one.
For India A, opener Abhishek Sharma was the top run-scorer with 61 runs in 51 balls.
Pakistan A put up a challenging target for India with all thanks to Tayyab. He smashed 108 runs off just 71 balls, adorned with 12 boundaries and four towering sixes, boasting an impressive strike rate of 152.11. His extraordinary innings steered Pakistan A to a formidable position after struggling at 187 for 5 wickets.
Pakistan A’s top-order demonstrated resilience with openers Sahibzada Farhan (65 off 62) and Saim Ayub (59 off 51) both notching half-centuries, building a crucial partnership of 121 runs for the first wicket. However, India A bounced back with quick wickets in the middle overs, creating tension in the contest.
Mubasir Khan scored 35 runs, adding 126 runs for the sixth wicket with Tayyab.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Riyan Parag took two wickets each.
Winning the toss, India A chose to bowl first.
Ahead of the final, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam visited the Pakistan Shaheens team.
Meanwhile, Pakistan returned to the world squash podium on Sunday when young Hamza Khan made a comeback to beat Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria to win the World Junior Championship in Melbourne.
Hamza claimed a 3-1 victory over Zakaria in the final, with a scoreline of 10-12, 14-12, 11-3 and 11-6.
This was Pakistan’s first World Junior Squash title in nearly four decades as the last Pakistani player to lift this trophy was Jansher Khan, who won the title 37 years ago in 1986.
The final between Hamza and Zakaria started off in an exciting manner with two back-to-back games, ending up in tiebreakers. However, Hamza convincingly took the following two games to complete a 3-1 win.
Meanwhile, Zakaria took the lead in the second game, which lasted for 26 minutes with a score of 12-10. It was another thrilling encounter as the Pakistani was down 8-10, but denied Zakaria the much-needed game point twice and levelled the match with 14-12 win.
The next two games were a total contradiction to what everyone witnessed in the first two games. Hamza won the third game without much resistance in just 6 minutes with a score of 11-3, before finally winning the 4th with a score of 11-6.
Hamza qualified for the final of the World Junior Squash Championship on Saturday. French player Melvil Scianimanico fought back from two games and match ball down but Hamza prevailed in the decider to qualify for the final.
Reacting to the win, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif felicitated Hamza, the nation and all the players for winning the World Junior Squash Championship.
State run radio, citing a statement, said the PM thanked Hamza for giving the title to Pakistan again after 37 years. “Hamza Khan has recalled the victory of 1986 World Squash Champion Jan Sher Khan,” said PM Shehbaz.
The PM hoped that Hamza will make Pakistan invincible in squash again in the near future. He also congratulated Hamza Khan’s parents, coach and all the team members.
President Arif Alvi recalled that Pakistan “had an unprecedented and yet unmatched supremacy in squash.” “I had personally watched many finals among our giants. After a long time, a resurgent ray of hope. Well done,” said the president.
President Alvi also stated that he was “overwhelmed with the true and high spirits” of the Pakistani youth who want to bring themselves to the mainstream of sports.
Meanwhile, squash legend Jahangir Khan, while talking to Geo News, also congratulated Hamza on his victory, however, lamented the state of the sport in Pakistan.
“I think that it should not have taken us so many years for this victory. In the past, Pakistan had its own position in squash and should have had continuous victories because of the level we used to play at,” said Jahangir. He added that even right now it was not too late and Pakistan can regain its lost glory.
“We can improve squash and run it on merit. People running squash should be experts and (be appointed on) merit,” said the former squash player. He lamented that it was a pity that Hamza’s coach could not go with him to the tournament.
“If the squash federation is run in a professional manner, Pakistan can win every year. There is no shortage of talent in Pakistan,” said Jahangir.