PESHAWAR, Nov 26: Bilal Zaman retained the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Open junior squash championship under-19 title defeating Adil Atlas in a marathon five-set final at PAF Squash Complex on Saturday.

Bilal faced tough resistances from Adil in the battle which lasted an hour and 15 minutes. He hit the board seven times while his rival hit the tin nine times in the first set.

Adil clinched an edge as he reached love-3 in the first set but due to his wrong straight shorts, Bilal tied the set at 3-3.

Adil, son of former Pakistan champion Atlas Khan, had to struggle to reach 3-7 but the tally was again levelled at 7-7. When both were tied at 8-8, they were stretched to 8-10.

However, Adil won the set despite hitting the tin time and again. The set lasted for 16 minutes.

Bilal staged a comeback in the second set to win it 9-5. They tied at 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5.

Bilal hit the tin six times while Adil did the same 11 times even on very straight drives. Bilal also hit some crosscourt smashes and succeeded in getting the lead after 5-5.

In the third set Bilal secured a 9-5 victory. Adil tried hard to get back into the game but he hit the tin five times. Adil missed some easy shorts and let Bilal cash in on them by taking a 2-1 lead in the five-set battle.

The two players exhibited excellent game but it was Adil who won the set 4-9. Bilal failed to settle down and lost the set.

Adil raced up to love-5, 1-7 and 2-7 and even at match point 2-8 but Bilal with his excellent backhand, crosscourt and nick shots tied the tally at 8-all and won 9-5.

In the U-13, national champion Nasir Iqbal beat Haroon (Punjab) 9-5, 9-7, 9-6 (3-0), Farhan Zaman beat Waqas Mehboob 3-2 in U-15 category, the score being 9-4, 9-7, 2-9, 7-9, 9-0. In the U-17, Waqar Mehboob defeated Sohail Hassan by 3-0, the score being 9-2, 9-4, 9-7.

The chief guest, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat gave away trophies and cash prizes to winners and runners-up. About 192 players participated in the event, which featured U-13, U-15, U-17 and U-19 events.—APP