ISLAMABAD: Promising Pakistan youngster Noor Zaman beat Joachim Chuah of Malaysia in the final of the Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship in Pattaya, Thailand on Sunday.

According to the information received here, the 18-year-old Noor, who is Pakistan’s top-ranked junior player, defeated Chuah 3-1 in 52 minutes to claim the U-19 title.

Noor however, had saved his best for the decisive game which the Pakistani teenager comfortably bagged 11-5 to move ahead 2-1.

After second seed Noor won the first game 11-9, the 17-year-old Chuah came back strongly to take a very close second game 12-10 to make it 1-1.

With momentum on his side, Noor then took the fourth game 11-9 to secure the title.

Noor thanked Allah Almighty for winning the continental title for Pakistan after four years. “The prayers of my parents, countrymen and the coaches’ hard work proved vital in my success,” Noor, who hails from Peshawar, stated.

“I had worked hard to win back more titles. [However] the credit goes to my coaches who were practising hard with me daily to improve my game and physical fitness level,” Noor, who has won several national and international events over the past few years, said.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2022