ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan overcame his brother Danish Atlas in the semi-final of the Chief of Air Staff International Squash Championship on Wednesday to set up a final against Egyptian rival Omar Abdel Meguid.

In a closely-contested match, Aamir ended Danish’s resistance in a match which went the full distance with an 11-9, 5-11, 11-13, 14-12, 11-5 victory at the Mushaf Squash Complex.

Meguid reached Thursday’s final after he outclassed Abdullah Mohammad Al Tamimi of Qatar 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 in the other semi-final.

“It will be a good final,” Pakistan’s head-coach Jamshed Gul told Dawn, looking ahead to the title decider. “Aamir is in good form and hopefully with take full advantage of the home crowd.

“Although Meguid [ranked 28th in the world] has a higher ranking than [world number 85] Aamir, I believe Aamir’s experience gives him the edge.”

In an epic 62-minute battle, the Atlas brothers played a superb game to the delight of the crowd which had gathered to watch the match.

Aamir took the first game but Danish came back strongly, playing quality strokes to win the next two games and come to within a game of reaching the final.

But just as it seemed Danish was in the ascendancy, Aamir roared back to level the match before winning the fifth game with his aggressive play, piling on the pressure on his brother, reach the final.

Earlier, top-seeded Meguid needed just 42 minutes to send Al Tammimi crashing out with the Qatari having no answer to his powerful strokes.

“It was a difficult game for me because I was playing my friend and room-mate,” Meguid told Dawn after the match.Al Tamimi was presented a trophy for reaching the last-four at the event with former world Champions Geoff Hunt and Qamar Zaman also present on the occasion.

Meguid, meanwhile, praised the arrangements for the tournament and said that more squash events should be held in Pakistan.

“Before coming here, I was a little worried about the security here,” he said, before adding: “Pakistan is a safe country and the best country for squash.”

Looking ahead to the final, Meguid added: “Aamir is an experienced player and I won’t be able to take it easy in the final.”

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014