Daily Times

KARACHI: Prolific fourth seed Tayyab Aslam breezed past second seed Farhan Zaman 3-1 while top seed Faiza Zafar swept aside sibling Madina Zafar by an identical scoreline in the finals to lift the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the $15,000 Jubilee General Insurance Pakistan Squash Circuit III Tournament at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex here on Wednesday. Aslam, who finished the runner-up in Circuit II at Lahore, fought vigorously to stun his opponent 11-8, 10-12, 11-1, 11-8 in a 44-minute to clinch his maiden domestic title of the year and second of the year after winning Malaysian Tour V in March. “I played as per plans given by my coach Abdul Rasheed and engaged my opponent in long rallies that helped to lay my hands on the title,” a jubilant 22-year-old Aslam from Lahore after the final.

Aslam said his best world ranking was 59th and that slipped to 145th due to ankle injury adding that presently he was among the top 100 (95th). He has set his sights on the $35,000 Malaysian Open which is slated to take place at Kuala Lumpur from July 19 to 22 and the Jakarta Asian Games next month. Besides him, Asim Khan, Ammad Farid and Israr Ahmed form the Pakistan quartet for Asiad in Indonesia.

Pakistan No. 2 Zaman, who plays for Pakistan Air Force (PAF), attributed his loss to lack of training for the last eight months due to his mother’s serious illness. “My mother is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer which has badly affected my training,” the 26-year-old player said. He was delighted to inform that his Nikah has been solemnized with eminent squash player Sadia Gul recently. Asked about his next assignment, Zaman said he would make his appearance in the Chief of Air Staff Championship in September this year.

Meanwhile, Faiza made her mark while getting the better of second seed Madina 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 16-14 in 32 minutes to win the second title in a series of three circuits. Earlier, she had won the Circuit I against Madina who avenged her defeat by capturing the second event. “I was quite upset after losing the preceding final and have worked hard that eventually paid off,” she said. “My confidence built up after beating senior player Moqaddas Ashraf in a five-game thriller in the quarterfinal,” said Faiza, who attained Pakistan No. 1 ranking earlier this year. To a question, Faiza said she was looking forward to perform better in the Asian Games. Besides her, the team comprises Madina, Riffat Khan and Amna Fayyaz. Madina said she had fatigue following a tough semifinal against Riffat the other day. “It was my third successive final having won one and lost two,” she said. Aslam, meanwhile, received a winning purse of $1805 while Farhan earned runner-up prize of $1235 from caretaker Sindh Sports Minister Dr. Syed Junaid Ali Shah, who graced the final. Faiza received $902 while Madina got richer by $617.

Published in Daily Times, July 13^th 2018.