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| September 28, 2002 | Saturday | Rajab 20, 1423 |
Abbas faces Darwaish in all-Egyptian final
KARACHI, Sept 27: It will be an all-Egyptian final as last year’s finalist Mohammad Abbas, made another stunning entry into the final of the Chief Of Naval Staff International Squash Championship as he swept in from behind to upset Pakistan’s No.1 Mansoor Zaman 3-2 at the Pakistan Navy Roshan Khan Jahangir Khan Squash Complex Friday.
Abbas faces countryman and top seed Karim Darwaish Saturday in the final after the latter got the better of Mansoor’s cousin Shahid Zaman in four hard fought games in the earlier semifinal.
Unseeded Egyptian, No.28 in the world ranking, beat the former world champion Jansher Khan 3-1 Thursday and facing Pakistan’s top star Mansoor Zaman seeded at No.3, fought his way out from the brink of defeat to emerge a worthy winner.
Last year Abbas went down
0-3 to Anthony Rickets of Australia in the final and although he faces the top seed, he will be going all out to win the prestigious trophy which eluded him last year.
Serving for the match that lasted 67 minutes, Abbas drew first blood and soon increased his lead 4-2. But with a flurry of points Mansoor not only levelled the scores at 4-4, but raced ahead 8-4.
Abbas closed the gap 6-8, only to see Mansoor with two reverse flicks draw further away 10-6, but soon the scores were level against at 10-10 and 11-11. At 12-12, a stroke was awarded against Abbas and Mansoor once more on the attack won the first game 15-12.
In the second, Mansoor took an early 3-0 lead, scoring from his opponent’s unforced errors. Settling down, Abbas with some fine placements and cross court smashes levelled the scores 5-5 and 6-6. But it was the Pakistan No.1 who drew away 10-6. Battling on Abbas closed the gap 11-10, only to lose the game 15-10 as Mansoor reeled off four quick points.
Two games down and with defeat staring him in the face, the lanky Egyptian took a flying 4-1 lead in the third game and continuing to play some forceful squash, cut down the deficit 1-2 by winning the third game 15-7.
In the vital fourth, the lead changed over several times with the scores tied at 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7. With the partisan crowd cheering him on, Mansoor tried his level best to take over the initiative, but several errors cost him the game as Abbas drew level 2-2, winning the fourth 15-10.
In the final game, the Egyptian took a 3-1 lead. Mansoor with two cross court smashes was on even keel 3-3 as the spectators were treated to some excellent squash. At 8-8 Mansoor was awarded a stroke which forced Abbas to question the referee’s decision. Abbas continued to attack and drew away 14-10, a match point away from victory.
The unseeded Egyptian had frustrating moments when he thought he had won the match 15-10. But the referee thinking otherwise awarded a “let” to Mansoor which was followed up with another three “lets” much to Abbas’s amazement.
In the meantime Mansoor was creeping closer 13-14, until Abbas awarded a stroke, heaved a sigh of relief winning the final game 15-13.
After the match Abbas speaking to Dawn said that the referring was indeed biased. He said in his match again Jansher a few points did go against him, but the referring in the semifinal was something he wanted to forget in a hurry.
Earlier top seed Karim Darwaish playing aggressively, took the opening game 15-4 against fourth seed Shahid Zaman. Getting into his strides Shahid levelled the scores
1-1, pinching a hard fought second 15-14. A neck and neck tussle ensued once again in the third, until Darwaish went ahead 2-1, snatching the game 15-12.
Trailing 1-2, Shahid fought for every point in the fourth game, forcing the top seed into several errors. Trying desperately hard to level the scores as the two locked horns at 14-14, Shahid was terribly disappointed when Darwaish grabbed the last point to win the game 15-14, and emerge a 3-1 winner.
Semifinal results:
Karim Darwaish (Egypt) beat Shahid Zaman (Pakistan) 3-1: 15-4, 14-15, 15-12, 15-14. Mohammad Abbas (Egypt) beat Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) 3-2: 12-15, 10-15, 15-7, 15-10, 15-13.
Final scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Karim Darwaish (Egypt) v/s Mohammad Abbas (Egypt) at 1500 hours.
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