Pakistani squash player reaches final of inaugural championship

KARACHI: Pakistan's Noor Zaman has reached the final of the inaugural WSF World U23 Squash Championships as he dominated over Malaysia's Ameeshenraj Chandaran with scores of 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 on Wednesday at Karachi's DHA Creek Club.

The second-seeded Zaman will face Egypt's Kareem El Torkey in Thursday's final after the Torkey seed stunned top-seeded compatriot Ibrahim Elkabbani 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 in the other semi-final.

Zaman was already two games up when his opponent retired from the game.

"The crowd support has been incredible and I'll give everything to win this title for Pakistan,” said Noor Zaman after the final.

El Torkey's comeback victory marked a significant upset, with the Egyptian recovering from losing the first game to overpower the tournament favorite Elkabbani.

In the women's draw, top seed Fayrouz Abouelkheir of Egypt defeated Malaysia's Aira Azman 11-8, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4 to set up a final against Hong Kong's Chan Sin Yuk, who overcame Malaysia's Xin Ying Yee 11-7, 11-6, 4-11, 7-11, 11-3.