KARACHI: Qualifier Saddam-ul-Haq continued his winning run when he cruised into the semi-finals of the inaugural Chief of Naval Staff All Pakistan Squash Championship at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Thursday.

Saddam, who created quite a stir by getting the better of third seed Zeeshan Zeb in a fully-stretched first round the other day, coasted to a straight 11-4, 11-4, 15-13 victory in 35 minutes to advance into the last four.

Second seed Nasir Iqbal stayed in contention when he carved out a 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 victory over seventh seed Bilal Zakir in the quarter-final.

Saddam and Nasir were joined by two lower seeded players — Naveed Rehman and Waqar Mehboob — in the quartet. Sixth seed Naveed sent fourth seed Zahir Shah packing 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 while eighth seed Waqar inflicted an 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5 defeat on unseeded Mohammad Faraz.

Similarly, a qualifier and an unseeded player joined the top and fourth seed in the women’s pre-final.

Qualifier Noor-ul-Ain defeated fellow qualifier Kainat Amir 11-2 after which the latter retired while unseeded Maryam Malik accounted for eighth seed Saima Shaukat 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-3, 11-9.

Top seed Zynab Khan and fourth seed Komal Khan kept their winning run intact. The former carved out an 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 victory over seventh seed Ilsa Imran while the latter struggled to negotiate with fifth seed Mehwish Ali 4-11, 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11 in a fully-stretched battle.

Results:

Quarter-finals (men): Waqar Mehboob bt Mohammad Faraz 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5; Naveed Rehman bt Zahir Shah 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; Saddam-ul-Haq bt Salman Saleem 11-4, 11-4, 15-13; Nasir Iqbal bt Bilal Zakir 11-5, 11-3, 11-6.

Quarter-finals (women): Zynab Khan bt Ilsa Imran 11-6, 11-6, 11-3; Komal Khan bt Mehwish Ali 4-11, 11-4, 11-8, 5-11, 13-11; Noor-ul-Ain bt Kainat Amir 11-2, retired; Maryam Malik bt Saima Shaukat 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-3, 11-9.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2022