Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prolific Farhan Mehboob and Faiza Zafar clinched the men and women’s honours in the Pakistan Squash Circuit-I Championship which concluded here on Sunday. Farhan took just 36 minutes to eliminate Israr Ahmed in a lop-sided final (3-1), 11-7, 11-6, 5-11 and 11-4. In the women’s final, Faiza defeated her younger sister Madina (3-1), 11-7, 15-13,9-11, 11-6 in a match which lasted 26 minutes. Farhan, who was amongst the world’s top 20 players in 2009, had an upper hand over Israr from the word go and won the first game 11-7. The 29-year-old continued with his blistering form with 116 win in the second. Israr threatened a strong comeback by taking the third game 11-5 but Farhan brought the match to a decisive end by clinching the fourth 11-5 to bag yet another domestic title. “My next target is to win the Player’s Squash Association events in Lahore and Karachi,” said Farhan who is set to sit out during the upcoming Jakarta Asian Games due to health issues. The Peshawar-born player also did not feature in the recently held Asian Team Championship.

Meanwhile in the women’s final, Faiza dominated from the first game and easily won it 11-7. The second game was closely fought; however, Faiza won it as well 15-13. In the third game Madina came back in the match by winning 11-9 but Faiza reacted aggressively take the final game 11-6. Former national player Qamar Zaman distributed prizes and trophies among the winners. The Pakistan Squash Federation organised the PSA approved tournament, which carried $10,000 prize money for men and $5000 for women.

Published in Daily Times, May 15^th 2018.