February 09, 2008	Saturday	Safar 01, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 8: Pakistan’s Mansoor Zaman and Malaysian Ong Beng Hee will line up for the first time in India in the final of the Kolkata International Squash after surviving tough five-game semi-finals on Thursday in the 3-star PSA Tour event at the Calcutta Rackets Club in Kolkata.

Mansoor Zaman, the fifth seed, upset Egypt’s third seed Omar Mosaad. Mansoor started the match with great spirit to thrash his world-class opponent 11-5 in the first set.

But just when it looked like the Pakistani would easily overcome the Egyptian, Omar made a strong comeback into the match annexing the next two sets 11-4, 11-7.

Not in a mood to let the match go out of his hands so easily, the world No. 35 Mansoor bounced back to win the fourth set 11-7.

After a see-saw contest, Mansoor finally won the decisive set 11-9 to earn a place in the tournament’s final. It took him 45 minutes to overcome his opponent.

Ong Beng Hee, the second seed, took 70 minutes, almost twice as long, to overcome another Egyptian, Omar Abdel Aziz, 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4 to end Egypt’s interest in the final.

Semi-finals: (5) Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt (3) Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-5, 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9; (2) Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt (6) Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-4.—Agencies