KARACHI: Sajad Zareian Jahromi of Iran was through to the second round upsetting better ranked Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong in four games as the 13th CNS International Squash Championship sprang into action here at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Thursday.

Ranked 166th, the 21-year-old Sajad, who lost to Pakistan’s Asim Khan in the second round of DHA Cup, stormed back from a game down to overpower 100th ranked Wong 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7 in 29 minutes.

Wong, 24, is the runner-up of the Beijing Challenge Cup staged last September.

Incidentally, Sajad is drawn to take second seed Asim Khan again in a repeat second-round clash on Friday. The latter together with seven other seeded players have got a bye in the first round.

Besides Sajad, four more foreigners including three from Hong Kong and three home players propelled into the second round by winning their respective first-round fixtures.

While Hong Kong’s Tang Ming Hong and Henry Leung were extended to four games by their opponents, Tsz Kwan Lau won straight.

Tang Ming overcame Pakistan’s wildcard Faraz Mohammad 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 while Henry struggled to overwhelm Danish Atlas Khan 12-10, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5 in the longest duel lasting 50 minutes.

Tsz Kwan sent Iran’s Navid Maleksabet packing 11-3, 11-7, 11-5. Navid had also been eliminated in the DHA Cup first round.

Egyptian Youssef Ibrahim, who shocked second seed Mohamed Reda in the fully stretched quarter-final before losing to eventual champion Ivan Yuen in the DHA Cup semis, had a smooth 11-8, 11-2, 11-8 sailing over second wild card Owais Rasheed in 19 minutes.

Meanwhile, Farhan Zaman got the better of compatriot Khawaja Adil Maqbool 11-6, 11-5, 11-9 while Ammad Fareed inflicted a 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 defeat on Malaysian Ryan Pascal. Third Pakistani Zahir Shah cruised to 11-6, 15-13, 11-7 victory over Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari.

Results:

First round:

Tang Ming Hong (Hong Kong) bt Faraz Mohammad (Pakistan) 6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; Youssef Ibrahim (Egypt) bt Owais Rasheed (Pakistan) 11-8, 11-2, 11-8; Farhan Zaman (Pakistan) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pakistan) 11-6, 11-5, 11-9; Amaad Fareed (Pakistan) bt Ryan Pasqual (Malaysia) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8; Henry Leung (Hong Kong) bt Danish Atlas Khan (Pakistan) 12-10, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5; Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) bt Navid Maleksabet (Iran) 11-3, 11-7, 11-5; Zahir Shah (Pakistan) bt Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (Pakistan) 11-6, 15-13, 11-7; Sajad Zareian Jahromi (Iran) bt Chi Him Wong (Hong Kong) 6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7

Friday’s fixtures (matches start at 12:00pm):

Arturo Salazar (Mexico) vs Tang Ming Hong (Hong Kong); Youssef Ibrahim (Egypt) vs Israr Ahmed (Pakistan); Shahjahan Khan (Pakistan) vs Farhan Zaman (Pakistan); Amaad Fareed (Pakistan) vs Ammar Altamimi (Kuwait); Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan) vs Henry Leung (Hong Kong); Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) vs Ahsan Ayaz (Pakistan); Rui Soares (Portugal) vs Zahir Shah (Pakistan); Sajad Zareian Jahromi (Iran) vs Asim Khan (Pakistan)

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2018