CHENGDU: Noor Zaman’s hopes of a World Games squash medal were quashed after he was on the losing end of a thrilling five-game battle on Saturday, while Nasir Iqbal kept his hopes alive in the plate event.

Pitted against Colombian world number 21 Miguel Rodriguez in the last-16 stage, Noor managed to come from 2-1 down to force a deciding game but was ultimately overpowered.

“Noor played with heart, but Rodriguez’s experience made the difference in crucial moments,” said Pakistan coach Fahim Gul, with the team making its debut at the Games. “This is a learning curve for him and hell come back stronger.”

Noor made a fast start, taking the first game 11-2 in just six minutes but Rodriguez grew into the contest, taking the next two games 11-7 and 11-9. Noor hit back in the fourth game, taking it 13-11 before Rodriguez clinched the decisive fifth game 11-6.

He will now have to contend with the special plate event with a quarter-final against Egyptian Mohammad Nasser on Sunday.

Nasir advanced to the quarter-finals of the plate event a day after falling in the first round. He crushed Austrian Daniel Lutz 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to set up a last-eight match against Romanian Radu Pena.

“Nasir played smart squash today, controlling the match from the start,” Fahim said. “He’s determined to make the most of this opportunity.”

The multi-sport World Games feature non-Olympic sports although Squash is set to make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the three-day tug-of-war competitions kicked off with Britain’s men’s 640kg team clinching gold after a dominant performance against reigning champion Switzerland.

In canoeing, Denmark’s Mads Brandt Pedersen took gold in the men’s K1 short distance event while Sweden’s Melina Andersson took the women’s race.

Also at the Xinglong Lake Hubin Arena, Dragon boat made its debut as an official sport with Indonesia claiming the first gold medal in the open 8-seater 2,000m pursuit race.

Over at the Dong’an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium, China captured the women’s group title in acrobatic gymnastics while Alexey Glukhov and Anastasia Glazunova of Moldova won the standard dance event.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025