KARACHI: Unseeded Egyptian Moustafa El Sirty pulled off the first major upset of the 14th CNS International Squash Championship on Wednesday when he removed eighth seed Chi Him Wong of Hong Kong to advance into the quarter-finals of the US$20,000 event here at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex.

Moustafa took just 19 minutes to post a 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 victory over his opponent to join the top seven in the next round.

He is slated to face top seed Ivan Yuen of Malaysia in last-eight round on Thursday after the latter outplayed unseeded Pakistani Israr Ahmed 11-5, 11-2, 11-6 in 22 minutes.

Second seed Tayyab Aslam of Pakistan dropped a game against unseeded compatriot Farhan Zaman while posting a 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5 victory in the second-round fixture lasting 40 minutes.

Besides Tayyab, fifth seed Asim Khan became the second home player to make it to the quarters defeating unseeded Egyptian Omar ElKattan 11-8, 13-11, 11-6.

Results:

Second round: Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) bt Israr Ahmed (Pakistan) 11-5, 11-2, 11-6; Moustafa El Sirty (Egypt) bt Chi Him Wong (Hong Kong) 11-3, 11-6, 11-3; Asim Khan (Pakistan) bt Omar ElKattan (Egypt) 11-8, 13-11, 11-6; Mazen Gamal (Egypt) bt Addeen Idrakie (Malaysia) 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9; Henry Leung (Hong Kong) bt Danish Atlas Khan (Pakistan) 11-2, 11-8, 11-7; Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) bt Amaad Fareed (Pakistan) 11-5, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8; Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (Malaysia) bt Ammar Altamimi (Kuwait) 11-6, 11-6, 11-8; Tayyab Aslam (Pakistan) bt Farhan Zaman (Pakistan) 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-5.

Thursday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals start at 12:00noon.

Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) vs Moustafa El Sirty (Egypt); Asim Khan (Pakistan) vs Mazen Gamal (Egypt); Henry Leung (Hong Kong) vs Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong); Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (Malaysia) vs Tayyab Aslam (Pakistan)

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2020