KARACHI: Unseeded Waqas Mehboob continued his giant-killing run by removing sixth seed Zahir Shah, while seventh seed Danish Atlas Khan sent fourth seed Farhan Zaman packing to cruise into the men’s last four in the 13th DG Rangers Sindh Squash Championship at the Rangers Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Sunday.

Waqas, who sent shock waves by getting the better of third seed Ammad Fareed the other day, carved out 9-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-5 victory over Zahir in the 45-minute duel.

Similarly, Danish pulled of the second upset inflicting 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-9 defeat on Farhan to halt his winning run.

The top two seeds Tayyab Aslam and Asim Khan, as expected, completed the quartet. The former carved out an 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4 victory over Mohammad Bilal while the latter notched up a straight 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 victory over Israr Ahmed.

Meanwhile, qualifier Faiza Zafar and wildcard Zaynab Khan joined top seed Rushna Mehboob and third seed Amna Fayyaz in the women’s semi-finals.

Faiza got the better of fifth seed Noor-ul-Huda 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 while Zaynab struggled to beat sixth seed Anam Aziz in fully stretched battle 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 3-11, 11-9.

In other matches, Rushna conjured up a straight 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 victory over eighth seed Nimra Aqeel while Amna was home over Noor-ul-Ain 11-3, 11-5, 12-14, 11-5.

Results:

Men’s quarter-finals: Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Mohammad Bilal [ITA] 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4; Waqas Mehboob (PAK) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 9-11, 13-11, 11-6, 11-5; Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Farhan Zaman (PAK) 7-11, 11-2, 11-4, 11-9; Asim Khan (PAK) bt Israr Ahmed (PAk) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3.

Women’s quarter-finals: Rushna Mehboob (ZTBL) bt Nimra Aqeel (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 11-4, 11-3, 11-9; Amna Fayyaz (Army) bt Noor-ul-Ain (SNGPL) 11-3, 11-5, 12-14, 11-5; Faiza Zafar (Army) bt Noor-ul-Huda (SNGPL) 11-7, 11-6, 11-4; Zaynab Khan (Sindh) bt Anam Aziz (Sindh) 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 3-11, 11-9.

Monday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals starts at 2pm:

Tayyab Aslam vs Waqas Mehboob, Asim Khan vs Danish Atlas (men’s).

Rushna Mehboob (ZTBL) vs Amna Fayyaz (Army), Faiza Zafar (Army) vs Zaynab Khan (Sindh) (women’s).

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2019