Farhan, Nasir stun rivals to reach semis

KARACHI: Farhan Zaman and Nasir Iqbal upset their rivals to cruise into the semi-finals of men’s Asian Squash Championship at Sheikh Salem Al Sabah International Squash Complex, Kuwait on Sunday.
Eleventh seed Farhan stunned top seed Max Lee of Hong Kong 12-10, 11-9, 15-13 in 55 minutes, while seventh seed Nasir surprised second seed Saurav Ghosal of India 13-15, 11-7, 11-4, 11-5 in 75 minutes in the quarter-finals of the prestigious championship.
Farhan’s displayed great skills to outclass Max and Nasir earned numerous points of drops and counter drops over his opponent Saurav, who is well known for his speed and attrition.
Saurav was not satisfied with the referring as he questioned numerous calls and the explanations given were not satisfactory to him, while Nasir too faced some questionable decisions.
Nasir will now face third seed Kuwaiti Abdullah Al-Mezayen, while Farhan will battle with fourth seed Leo Au of Hong Kong in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the squash circles of the country are hoping that both players would continue their giant killing spree.
Four Pakistani players are taking part in this championship and they all got byes in the first round. In the second round, 12th seed Danish Atlas Khan defeated Salem Fayez Mohammad of Kuwait 11-8, 11-2, 11-6 in 25 minutes; Nasir smashed Gihan Suwaris of Sri Lanka 11-4, 11-1, 11-5 in 15 minutes; 14th seed Tayyab Aslam defeated Hasnain Obaid Dakheel of Iraq 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6 in 40 minutes; and Farhan thrashed Mohammad Reza Sadegpour of Iran 11-8, 11-3, 11-5 in 20 minutes.
Then in the third round (pre-quarterfinals) Saurav defeated Danish 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 in 45 minutes; Nasir overpowered 13th seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia 12-10, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6 in 55 minutes; third seed Abdullah Al Muzayen of Kuwait beat Tayyab 11-9, 11-9, 15-13 in 40 minutes; and Farhan won against eighth seed Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu of India 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-4 in 55 minutes.