BUSAN, Oct 4: Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee confirmed his undisputed status as Asia’s squash king when he brushed aside the challenge of Pakistan’s Mansoor Zaman to win the men’s Asian Games event.

The world number seven and top seed was never seriously challenged as he swept to a 9-0, 9-7, 9-0 victory over the second seeded Pakistani in 45 minutes.

Ong just had too much class for Mansoor who had only won one of their four previous meetings and he allowed the 22-year-old Malaysian to dictate the match.

He was constantly caught flat-footed and was left to chase his opponent’s incisive drop shots and look on in vain as cross-court drives evaded him.

However, Ong, who is coached in London by world champion Peter Nicol’s coach Neil Harvey, knew he could not take victory for granted after being two games to one down and 5-7 down in the fourth game of his semifinal Thursday against Shahid Zaman, Mansoor’s cousin.

“I had been very nervous in that semifinal and today I told myself just to be much more relaxed. This is the Asian Games and I didn’t want to screw it up.”

BOXING:

India’s light-flyweight Mohamad Ali Qamar decked Pakistan’s Imran Hafeez twice in the first round to earn a quarterfinal ticket in the Asian Games boxing tournament Friday.

Qamar face Harry Tanamor of the Philippines in the quarterfinal.

Light-middleweight Kashif Mumtaz of Pakistan, however, outpointed Christopher Camat of the Philippines, 18-11 to move ahead.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Results:

MEN 77kg

1. Sergey Filimonov (Kaz) 375kg (snatch 173kg-clean and jerk 202.5kg)

2. Mohammad Barkhah (Iri) 362.5kg (160kg-202.5kg)

3. Nejad Falahati (Iri) 350kg (150kg-200kg)

4. Ulanbek Moldodosov (Kgz) 342.5kg (152.5kg-190kg)

5. Lee Kang-Suk (Kor) 337.5kg (152.5kg-185kg)

6. Annaberdy Babayev (Tkm) 330kg (150kg-180kg)

7. Abdullah Iskandarani (Syr) 317.5kg (145kg-172.5kg)

8. Soulhrob Djouraev (Tjk) 300 kg (140kg-160kg)

9. Maarouf Tarha (Lib) 280kg (125kg-155kg)

10. Abdul Redha Yahya 240 kg (110kg-130kg)

UNRANKED

Nader Sulyan Abbas (Qat) ) 0kg

Akbar Awais (Pak) 0kg

Li Hongli (Chn) ) 0kg (173kg)

Note: Although Filimonov and Li lifted a world record in the snatch of 173kg under International Weightlifting Federation rules only 172.5kg counted to the score.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Centre vs provinces
Updated 10 Jun, 2026

Centre vs provinces

The reason the centre finds itself in this position is rooted in its failure to expand the tax net and boost revenues.
Party in crisis
10 Jun, 2026

Party in crisis

THE young KP chief minister must be starting to realise just how thorny a seat he occupies. There has been a flurry...
Varsity woes
10 Jun, 2026

Varsity woes

FINANCIAL crises affecting public sector universities across Pakistan are now having an impact on academic...
Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
Updated 09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

The situation started deteriorating after a trader affiliated with the JAAC was reportedly shot in an altercation with law-enforcers.
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....