Hamza reaches Pakistan Squash Circuit-I pre-quarter­finals

KARACHI: PSA invitee Hamza Sharif reached the pre-quarterfinals of the $10,000 Pakistan Squash Circuit-I in Islamabad on Monday.

Hamza beat Sindh’s top player Noman Khan 11-2, 11-6, 9-11, 7-2 in 30 minutes in the first round. Mehran Javed, the second PSA invitee, lost against Waqas Mehboob 6-11, 8-11, 8-11 in 25 minutes.

The two wildcard players also lost their matches. M Bilal won against Farhan Hashmi 7-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8 in 49 minutes. Danish Atlas smashed Noor Zaman 11-3, 11-2, 11-2 in just 13 minutes.

In other matches, Tariq Khan from Italy beat Faisal Riaz of the US 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 in 21 minutes. Zahir Shah defeated Saad Abdullah 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-5 in 39 minutes and Haris Qasim thrashed M Farhan 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 in 17 minutes. Naveed Rehman overpowered Owais Rashid 11-6, 12-14, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9 in 61 minutes. All eight top seed players got byes to move into the second round.