Egyptians Soliman, Elarby crowned CAS Int’l Squash champs

ISLAMABAD: Egyptian Youseff Soliman (men) and Rowan Elarby (ladies) raised the level of their game to highest point to land the Serena CAS International Squash titles at the Mushaf Ali Mir Complex Friday.

World No 47 Youseff Soliman stunned the top seed and 21 ranked Leo Au (Hong Kong) 11-13, 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 to win men’s event while teenage sensation and world junior squash champion Elarby got better of her countrywoman Nada Abbas 11-8, 11-8, 11-2 to win yet another title in such a tender age.

It was nothing less than a treat to watch the $ 30,000 men’s final where the Egyptian adopted never say die policy as even after going two games down he stayed in the hunt of win which he ultimately got. Long rallies were witnessed at the outset of the final with Au getting better on each occasion thanks to his understanding of the game. Both players played neck and neck squash during the first two games with Au succeeded in getting the upper hand from start to the finish.

However, the scenario changed totally starting with the third game as Soliman looked fresher and continued to play with same stamina and vein as he was showing at the start. His cross court sizzlers coupled with front courts drops were a treat to watch. Unlike the true tradition of his game Au looked a bit under pressure, committing one after another mistake to throw the third and then fourth game.

The fifth one also followed the same pattern as Soliman continued tight check, hitting the winner in patches and making Au run for every shot from one corner to other. It was better understanding on the part of Soliman that helped him take the title.

“Au is famous for his fighting spirit. The way I was playing in the event I was confident to take the battle to Au and I succeeded in that,” Soliman said after winning the title.The Egyptian however praised Au for making efforts to stay in the match. “He did all he could to stay in the match. But I found my rhythm going and that turned out to be the difference,” Soliman said.

Soliman got richer by $ 3550 and was awarded winners trophy.World junior women champion Elarby was a better opponent right from the word go in women’s final. Her agility, game understanding and wrest work was exceptional throughout the final.

Nada though struggled to unsettle Elarby, she never found ascendency and ultimately lost the final in straight games. “Nada is more experience campaigner but I played to a set plan which worked for me,” junior world champion said.

She was all praise for her opponent and said that she did her best to unsettle me. “My shots were hitting the right place and my rhythm was going well.” Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Arshad Malik was guest of honour and distributed trophies and cash awards to winners and runners up. Air Marshal Shahid Akhtar Alvi (SVP Pakistan Squash Federation), Jansher Khan, Jahangir Khan and Qamar Zaman were also present on the occasion and watched the finals with keen interest.