HK, Pak players advance in Int’l Squash

LAHORE: All the four Hong Kong players and three Pakistanis won their round one matches of the FMC International Men’s Squash Championship 2018 here at the Punjab Squash Complex on Monday.

From Pakistan, the match winners were Amaad Fareed, Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bukhari and Israr Ahmad, who defeated their respective opponents in the first round and qualified for the next round.

Pakistan’s Amaad Fareed beat compatriot Zeeshan Khan by 11/9, 11/6, 7/11, 9/11, 11/8 in 50 minutes, Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bukhari defeated fellow countryman Zahir Shah 9/11, 11/6, 3/11, 11/1, 11/8 in 44 minutes and Israr Ahmad of Pakistan also routed compatriot Abdul Malik Khan by 14/12, 11/5, 11/6 in 24 minutes.

Those Pakistani players, who played against international players, lost their matches. Pakistan’s Muhammad Farhan was thrashed by Hong Kong’s TSZ Kwan Lau in just 20 minutes with the scores of 11/4, 11/7, 11/7, wildcard entrant Haris Qasim of Pakistan was outclassed by Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong in just 28 minutes as the score was 11/7, 11/3, 11/4 and another Pakistani Khawaja Adil Maqbool was beaten by Hong Kong’s Tang Ming Hong in just 18 minutes with the scores of 12/10, 11/5, 11/1, 11/3.

In other matches, Henry Leung of Hong Kong played a marathon 80-minute match against Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie and defeated him by 11/9, 9/11, 12/10, 9/11, 11/7 after a tough battle. England’s Robert Downer also took 60 minutes to down his German opponent Yannik Omlor with a score of 11/9, 11/4, 5/11, 7/11, 11/4. The foreign players, while talking to media after playing their first round matches, said that they are very glad to come and play in Lahore, which is very good and safe place to play squash.