KARACHI: After Egypt’s Mohammad Zakaria had dashed hopes of an all-Pakistan final, Nasir Iqbal took down the top seed. The duo will clash in Sunday’s title match of the CNS International Squash Championship after Saturday’s semi-finals proved to be the graveyard for the tournament’s top seeds.

Zakaria’s 14-12, 13-11, 11-5 win over second seed Tayyab Aslam had set the tone for the last-four action and Nasir followed suit by overcoming compatriot and Pakistan number one Asim Khan 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 in a match filled with contentious refereeing decisions.

Asim objected to a number of decisions on no-let calls, leading to heated exchanges on the court but Nasir’s athleticism and shot-making took him through.

“These decisions happen in squash,” Nasir, playing at the tournament as a wildcard after being sidelined for several months due to a calf muscle tear, told Dawn referring to Asim’s protests.

Asim, meanwhile, told Dawn that the “game would’ve been closer if the refereeing was up to the mark”, while bemoaning the absence of a review system.

Nasir, though, was already looking ahead to the final. “It will be a tricky fixture. He has been playing well recently, so I will have to be prepared.”

Nasir surged into a 3-0 lead at the start of the first game and eventually powered through.

Asim’s superb counter on a drop saw him open the scoring in the second game and eventually moved 5-3 in a front but the awarding of a stroke to his opponent rankled him, providing Nasir with the opportunity to go 9-7 in front before he closed it out with a meticulous drop-shot to go 2-0 up.

Asim drew first blood in the third game but Nasir kept coming back. Asim levelled at 6-6 and went 8-6 in front but couldn’t force the fourth game.

Earlier, fourth-seeded Zakaria, 16, showed great powers of recovery against Tayyab.

Tayyab had led 10-7 in the first game, only to have to no answer to Zakaria’s stirring fightback. He was then 10-8 up in the second game only to see Zakaria live up to his reputation as the most exciting prospect in the world game.

The third game saw Zakaria race to a 5-0 lead, with Tayyab struggling to find his rhythm. Despite a brief resurgence from Tayyab, Zakaria closed out the match with his exceptional shot-making and court coverage.

“The turning point of the match was when he was 10-8 up [in the second game],” Zakaria told Dawn. “I pushed myself as that game was very important. When I closed the game I was very happy as I know I finished the big part of the match.”

Tayyab, who has recently returned to the circuit after a two-year layoff due to injury, agreed.

“If I had won the first or second game, it would’ve been a different story,” Tayyab told Dawn. “It is always hard to make a comeback from 2-0 down. So I was definitely mentally down and couldn’t focus in the third game.”

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024