ISLAMABAD, Aug 27: Englishman Adrian Grant overcame the challenge of Pakistan’s Mansoor Zaman in an epic final to lay his hands on the Chief of the Air Staff International Squash Championship trophy at the Mushaf Complex on Saturday.

In a tense and exciting match that lasted about an hour Grant, the world No. 19, carved out a 11-6, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-6 victory against the home player ranked 26.

Watching the match was President of Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), Air Marshal Kaleem Saadat, who later presented the trophy to Grant.

Mansoor, returning from a training trip to England only recently, appeared in fine nick and executed his strokes intelligently that saw him lead 2-1 in the match.

But a crucial mistake in the fourth game allowed Grant to force the decider into a decisive fifth.

The match may well have been decided in the fourth game had Mansoor kept his nerve and not hit the tin when he trailed 8-9.

Then again in the fifth, the home player did the same with the scores tied 6-6 as Grant sped ahead to wrap it all up.

Both players mixed caution with aggression in a bid outdo the other but it was the Englishman who took the first game after leading virtually from start to finish.

Mansoor sprang back with a bang in the second game in which he led from the word go, dropping only three points on the way.

It was an incredible display by the home player, who had checked into this final with a defeat of compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan on Friday.

The third game was a close affair and the players stood at par four times, the last at 5-5 following which Mansoor did not look back and conceded only one more point before going 2-1 up.

Mansoor fell behind three times in the fourth game but each time managed to bounce back, however his stroke that struck the tin did his cause no good as did the one he fired in the fifth game.

It was a hard-earned victory for Grant who praised Mansoor for putting up a tough fight while Pakistan coach Jamshed Gul felt that some refereeing decisions upset his player’s concentration.

Aamir Atlas, who showed the tournament’s Malaysian top seed Ong Beng Hee the door on the first day of competition, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.

Result: Adrian Grant (Eng) bt Mansoor Zaman (Pak) 11-6, 3-11, 6- 11, 11-8, 11-6.