September 29, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 21, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

KARACHI, Sept 28: World junior champion Karim Darwaish from Egypt, confirmed his top billing in the Third Chief Of The Naval Staff International Squash Championship, when he overcame unseeded countryman Mohammad Abbas 15-9, 15-11, 11-15, 15-5 in the final, played Saturday at the Pakistan Navy Roshan Khan Jahangir Khan Squash Complex.

The top seed reached the final by beating Pakistan’s No.2 Shahid Zaman 3-1 in 59 minutes, while Abbas accounted for Pakistan’s No.1 Mansoor Zaman, scion of the former world champion Qamar Zaman, in a gruelling contest 3-2 in 67 minutes.

For Abbas this was his second consecutive appearance in the final. Last year also unseeded, the World No.28 was beaten by Australian Anthony Ricketts 3-0 in the final.

In the first game with long rallies dominating the proceedings, the scores were tied at 3-3 and 4-4. With the lead changing hands several times, and the scores tied at 6-6, Darwaish forged ahead 9-6, helped on with a beautiful cross court smash that left his opponent stranded on the court.

Forcing his opponent into errors on the tin, Abbas closed the gap 8-10, but committing unforced errors himself, let the game slip away as Darwaish raced ahead 14-10 and finally picked up the first game 15-9 after only 14 minutes.

The second game saw another close tussle with the scores tied at 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7, before Darwaish pulled away 12-8.

But Jansher Khan’s conqueror in the quarterfinals was not giving up in a hurry. Fighting back Abbas came closer 11-13, but that was as far as he could get.

With a beautiful lob just above the tin and a powerful cross court smash, Darwaish was 2-0 in front, after winning the second game 15-11 in only 12 minutes.

Darwaish with three points on the trot stole the lead in the third game and continuing to play attacking squash was leading 7-3, with Abbas seemingly doomed for a straight three game defeat.

Bringing out all the tricks in the bag, Abbas closed the gap 7-8 and was on even keel at 11-11. With the excited crowd urging him on, Abbas reeled off the next four points winning the third game 15-11 in 13 minutes to cut down the deficit 1-2.

But his last ditch effort to survive took its toll on Abbas. Now a very tired individual, he let Darwaish run away with a 5-1 advantage in the fourth game. The lead increased 10-2 with Darwaish pouncing in for the kill.

Pinching three more points, Abbas trying to stage a feeble recovery saw the score read 13-5 in Darwaish’s favour. But the damage was already done.

Taking the next two points, the top seed grabbed the fourth game 15-5 in only 10 minutes, to emerge a happy 3-1 winner.

After the match, talking to newsmen Darwaish said that he was very happy to have won the glittering trophy and the winners purse. He added that this was his second victory in Pakistan, the first being achieved in Lahore.

He added that after this tournament, he and Abbas would be embarking in the US$50,000 tournament to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from Oct 15. From there the two would proceed to participate in the US$1,20,000 Qatar Open.

Abbas said that he felt tired after the close match incurred with left-hander Mansoor Zaman in the semifinals. But this he said must not take away any credit from Darwaish’s performance. “The top seed played like a worthy champion”, he added.

He said that he would be back next year again and perhaps then he could be third time lucky.

In this US$25,000 championship, the winner received a cash prize of US$4180 and the runner-up received US$2,860.

The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza NI (M) S.Bt presented the prize money along with the trophies.

Following is the final result:

Karim Darwaish (Egypt) beat Mohammad Abbas (Egypt) 3-1: 15-9, 15-11, 11-15, 15-5.