International squash events from tomorrow

LAHORE: A good number of foreign players have confirmed their participation in the back-to-back international squash championships being held in Lahore from Oct 8 to 17.

According to Punjab Squash Association secretary Sheeraz Ahmad, the first international event will be held from Oct 8 to 12 followed by the second from Oct 13 to 17.

Later, an international championship for women will also be held, he added.

He said 24 players would compete in the main draw of the first event featuring contestants from England, Egypt, Malaysia, France, Hong Kong, Germany and hosts Pakistan.

Robert Downer (England); Yousef Soliman, Maze Gamal (Egypt); Ivan Yuen, M. Shafiq Kamal, Adeen Idrakie (Malaysia); Auguste Dussourd (France), Tsz Kw an Lau, Tang Ming, Chi Him Wong, Henery Leung (Hong Kong) and Yannik Omlor (Germany) will represent their respective countries at the event.

After holding the first event, Sherez added, the International Men and Women Championships will commence from Oct 13 while the finals will be played on Oct 17. The men’s championship will feature players from Egypt, Kuwait, England, Ireland, Malaysia, Germany and Pakistan while Egypt, Iran, France and Pakistan will feature in the women’s event.

More foreign players, who confirmed their participation for the second leg are Shehab Essam (Germany), Ammar Altamimi, (Kuwait), Sean Conoroy and Naveed Maleksabet (Ireland).

In the women’s event Menna Nasser, Farhah Momen (both Egypt), Arezoosadat Mousavizadeh (Iran) and Melissa Alves (France) will vie for the honours.

The first-round matches will be held at the Punjab Squash Complex, while from the quarterfinals stage to finals all the matches will be played at the four-side-glass courts installed at a private hotel where the foreign players would also stay.—Sports Reporter

Sevastova ousts Osaka to set up Wozniacki final

BEIJING: Anastasija Sevastova defeated US Open champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-4 in the China Open semi-finals on Saturday and will take on Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday’s title clash.

Sevastova, managing a stomach muscle problem and not quite at 100 percent, controlled the contest by winning three out of eight break point opportunities to knock out the error-prone Japanese player.

Sevastova edged a tight first set with a solitary break as Osaka’s game showed signs of falling apart. The 20-year-old made 42 unforced errors in the contest.

Osaka also struggled with a lower back problem in the second set as Sevastova raced to a 5-2 lead before closing out the win. In the other semi-final, Australian Open champion Wozniacki converted five out of eight break point opportunities to thump local hope Wang Qiang 6-1 6-3 and reach her first hardcourt final since Melbourne.

Juan Martin del Potro went into the men’s final without hitting a ball after Italy’s Fabio Fognini pulled out of their semi-final with an ankle injury.

The Argentine top seed and world number four will be strong favourite against unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, who is ranked 34th.Basilashvili beat fifth seed Kyle Edmund of Britain 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.—Agencies

Moiz leads on opening day

KARACHI: The inaugural Shangrila Scrabble Champions Trophy, an internationally-rated elite tournament featuring 26 of the top-ranked scrabble players in Pakistan including current and former national champions, started here at the Arts & Science Academy on Saturday.

At the end of day one, former world youth champion Moiz Baig was on top with six wins out of the seven matches played with a spread of 586. Moiz started the day with six consecutive wins but lost the day’s final match to Sohaib Sanaullah.

Waseem Khatri started the day disastrously, losing to newcomer Umar Naeem in the very first match. This was the biggest win for the youngster. Waseem ultimately recovered and is currently second with five wins and a spread of 655.

Hassan Hadi ended day one in third position with five wins and a spread of 438. Hassan’s younger brother, Hasham Hadi did very well on the first day finishing fourth with five wins and a spread of 371. Another youngster Sohaib Sanaullah is fifth with five wins and a spread of 303.

Jawed Shamim, Tariq Pervez, Rashid Khan, Faheem Naqvi and Ahmed Salik made up the rest of the top 10 at the end of day one. Another 10 matches will be played on Sunday.—Sports Reporter

Farhan, Zoha win tennis titles

KARACHI: Farhan Altaf was fully extended by talented Zubiar Raja before the former won the men’s singles final in style at the 54th Sindh Sports Board Development series tennis event at Union Club on Saturday.

Both Farhan and Zubair looked in great form and displayed high class tennis but Farhan in the end emerged the winner due to his strong nerves and superior skills.

The under-15 title was won by Yahya Ehtasham who was also taken full distance by Taha Aman in the final.

In the ladies singles, Zoha Asim shocked favourite Eraj Batool to win the title with score of 8-1.

Shahnaz Manji, CEO Manji Laboratories, was the chief guest and distributed the prizes and trophies.

Results:

Mens Singles (final): Farhan Altaf bt Zubiar Raja 7-5,1-6,10-7

U-15 Singles (final): Yahya Ehtasham bt Taha Aman 4-6, 6-2, 10-7

U-13 Singles (final): Taha Aman bt Zain Ehtasham 6-2 6-1

U-11 Singles (final): Zain Ehtasham bt Ibrahim Qureshi 8-1

Ladies Singles (final): Zoha Asim bt Eraj Batool Zaidi 8-1.—Agencies

Pakistan women end BD T20 series in style

DHAKA: Pakistan women recorded another convincing seven-wicket triumph against host Bangladesh in the fourth match to wrap the four-match Twenty20 International series 3-0 at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox’s Bazar on Saturday.

The first match of the series was called off due to wet outfield while Pakistan won the second game, which was reduced to 14-overs-a-side, by 58 runs. The tourists then defeated the hosts by seven wickets in the third match staged on Friday to bag the series.

In Saturday’s fourth match, Bangladesh batting first collapsed to 77 all out in 20 overs. Only Rumana Ahmed (24) and Fahima Khatun (14) reached double digits.

Natalia Pervaiz captured three wickets while Diana Baig and Sana Mir took two wickets each.

In response, Pakistan reached the target in 14.5 overs. Captain Javeria Wadood Khan score a 29-ball 36 featuring five boundaries.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2018