KARACHI: The US $23,500 DHA Cup International Squash Championship – men’s and women’s – is set to commence at the DA Creek Club Asif Nawaz Squash Complex on Tuesday.

The men’s event that carries a purse of US $18,000 will see 11 foreign players in action in a 32-man draw while the US $5,500 women’s competition includes four foreigners.

According to organisers, the foreign players and referees have started arriving in the city for the mega event.

The foreigners who will compete in the men’s category includes top seed Navid Maleksabet (Iran), second seed Mohamed Reda (Egypt), third seed Ivan Yuen (Malaysia), sixth seed Ahmed Hosny (Egypt), eighth seed Addeen Idrakie (Malaysia), unseeded Ryan Pasqual (Malsysia), unseeded Henrik Mustonen (Finland), unseeded Sajad Zareian Jahromi (Ireland), unseeded Youssef Ibrahim (Egypt) and Ong Sai Hung (Malaysia).

The women’s quartet from abroad who will make their presence felt includes second seed Ooi Kah Yan (Malaysia), third seed Farida Mohamed (Egypt), fourth seed Farah Momen (Egypt), and unseeded Amina El Rihany (Egypt).

Unseeded Arisha Jahan Khan (US), daughter of former Pakistan squash player Zarak Jehan Khan has withdrawan leaving four foreigners in the fray. Her first round Pakistani opponent Noor-ul-Huda has been awarded a bye.

Two international foreign referees namely Rajiv Reddy (India) and Naved Kashif (Mala­ysia) have also arrived here on Monday to supervise the matches alongside Pakistani counterparts.

If seedings are a barometer then the men’s final is tipped to be an all-Egyptian affair on Nov 24 (Saturday).

Top seed Madina Zafar, who is ranked 85th in the world, will have a rare opportunity to win an international event while justifying her credentials. If nothing unforeseen happens, she is likely to face second seed Ooi Kah Yan of Malaysia in the title clash. The latter is ranked 94th.

Squash celebrity Jahangir Khan will formally inaugurate the DHA Cup at 3pm.

A total of eight first round matches in men’s and women’s apiece will be played on the opening day as top eight seeds in the two categories have got a first round bye.

The top eight men’s and women’s who have got a first round bye are as follows.

Men’s: 1-Karim Ali Fathi (Egy), 2-Mohamed Reda (Egy), 3-Ivan Yuen (Mal), 4-Tayyab Aslam(Pak), 5-Asim Khan (Pak), 6-Ahmed Hosny (Egy), 7-Farhan Mehboob (Pak), 8-Addeen Idrakie (Mal).

Women’s: 1-Madina Zafar (Pak), 2-Ooi Kah Yan (Mal), 3-Farida Mohamed (Egy), 4-Farah Momen (Egy), 5-Sadia Gul (Pak), 6-Riffat Khan (Pak), 7-Anam Mustafa Aziz (Pak), 8-Amna Fayyaz (Pak).

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Matches start at 12noon.

Men’s first round:

Navid Maleksabet (Iran) vs Israr Ahmed (Pak), Farhan Zaman (Pak) vs Danish Atlas Khan (Pak), Ryan Pasqual (Mal) vs Ahsan Ayaz (Pak), Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (Pak) vs Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pak), Henrik Mustonen (Finland) vs Amaad Fareed (Pak), Sajad Zareian Jahromi (Iran) vs Saad Abdullah (Pak), Naveed Rehman (Pak) vs Youssef Ibrahim (Egy), Shahjehan Khan (Pak) vs Ong Sai Hung (Mal).

Women’s first round:

Ilsa Imran (Pak) vs Komal Khan (Pak), Saima Shoukat (Pak) vs Neha Kamal (Pak), Amina El Rihany (Egy) vs Muqaddas Javed (Pak), Noor-ul-Huda (Pak) vs Arisha Jehan Khan (US), Zaynab Khan (Pak) vs Zoya Khalid (Pak), Fehmina Asim (Pak) vs Nimra Aqeel (Pak), Maria Saleem (Pak) vs Muqaddas Ashraf (Pak), Rushna Mehboob (Pak) vs Mehwish Ayub (Pak).

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2018