Nasir stretched to limit by young Hamza

ISLAMABAD: Nasir Iqbal was stretched to the limit by young Hamza Sharif who went down fighting in the opening game as $12,000 Pakistan International Squash Tournament got underway here at the Mushaf Ali Complex Monday.

In what could be termed a near escape for Nasir, Hamza came close to springing a surprise before losing to a seasoned opponent. Nasir had to pull out all his reserves to beat Hamza 16-14, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 in 46 minutes of entertaining squash. Hamza was leading the fourth game and looked well set to take the match into the fifth game when Nasir hanged on to win the match.

Even in the extended first game, Hamza had his chances and was seen leading at one stage. In the first game, Nasir’s back-hand winners following the long rallies came to his rescue. However, Hamza bounced back to take the second game as he was not afraid of playing long rallies.

In the end, there was lack of finishing touch that resulted in Hamza’s defeat. 17-year old Hamza is a product of the PSF academy and a real fighter as he has proved it in his first game against Nasir.

In other matches of the opening day, Hamza Khan lost to Noor Zaman 11-9, 11-9, 11-8 in straight games in just 26 minutes. Another wildcard holder Zeeshan Zeb was seen in excellent touch as he won his match in four games beating higher-ranked Saeed Abdul 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 following a 36-minute battle.

Tayyab Aslam, Asem Khan, Farhan Mehboob, Zahir Shah, Farhan Zaman, Israr Ahmad, Danish Atlas and Amaad Fareed have got a bye in the first round. Meanwhile, $6,000 women’s event will start today (Tuesday).

Results: First-round matches: Noor Zaman bt Hamza Khan (wc) 11-9, 11-9, 11-8; Farhan Hashmi bt Naveed Rehman 11-1, 11-4, 11-4; Syed Ali Bukhari bt Bilal Zakir 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7; Waqas Mehboob bt Muhammad Farhan 11-9, 11-4, 11-9; Muhammad Bilal bt Abdul Qadir 7-11, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8; Haris Qasim bt Salman Saleem 11-9, 11-6, 11-9; Nasir Iqbal bt Hamza Sharif (wc) 16-14, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7; Zeeshan Zeb (wc) bt Saeed Abdul 11-9, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8.