Asim annexes maiden PSA title

ISLAMABAD: Unseeded Muhammad Asim toppled top seed Nick Wall in four games to win his maiden PSA Tour World title at Boar’s Head Resort (USA).

The 27-year-old top Pakistani player came into this event with a history of never gone beyond the quarter-finals of a world-level event and nearly went out in round one, fighting back from two games down to beat Brazil’s Diego Gobbi.

He then upset second seed Yahya Elnawasany in the last eight before seeing off fifth seed Cesar Salazar in the semi-finals, setting up a final showdown with top seed Wall, who took home this trophy 12 months ago.

After losing the first game 12-14, Asim was on the back foot in the second, facing two game balls at 10-8 but took the next four points to level 12-10, then took charge to take the next two games 11-5, 11-6 to claim the title.

“I’m feeling very happy,” he said. “I didn’t expect any of this. I’ve been playing squash for the last few years -- four or five years -- and I was struggling a lot, not winning any matches in big tournaments like this. So this is something else, something big for me.”