KARACHI: At a tournament which organisers believe will be a historic step towards helping Pakistan regain its lost squash glory, three players kept the national interest alive by winning in contrasting fashion to advance to the second round of the Karachi Open on Tuesday.

Leading local hope Noor Zaman, the the under-23 world champion, came from 2-1 down to overwhelm Melvil Scianimanico of France while Nasir Iqbal mounted an even greater comeback when he battled back from a two-game deficit to stun Egyptian Moustafa Elsirty.

In contrast, Mohammad Ashab Irfan blazed past Japan’s Ryunosukue Tsukue but he faces the sternest test among the trio in the second round as he is up against top-seeded Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad.

Tayyab Aslam was the only local casualty on the men’s side on the opening day of the US$243,000 Professional Squash Association ‘Gold’ level championship as he was thrashed by Spaniard Iker Pajares.

On the women’s side, Pakistan will have no representation in the second round after Sana Bahadur and Mariam Malik both lost their first-round clashes.

The clash between the game’s up-and-coming stars Noor and Scianimanico lived up to its billing with the former taking the first game 11-9, only for the Frenchman to hit back by winning back-to-back games 12-10 and 11-3.

With a partisan crowd backing him, Noor recovered to take the next two games by identical 11-6 scorelines before dropping his racquet after securing the winning point.

The 49-minute victory sends world number 38 Noor to a second-round clash with Egyptian eighth seed Fares Dessouky.

Nasir had made an even greater comeback earlier when he rallied to down Elsirty 5-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 in the 56-minute duel.

“It was a really great match today,” the 31-year-old, who next faces fifth seed Mohamad Zakaria of Egypt, said. “It was so supportive playing in front of a home crowd. Events like this will be so good for the younger generation of players.

“In the first two games, I was a bit slow in the midcourt, and after going 2-0 down, I got told to push Moustafa to the back two corners because he’s so tall. When I pushed him back, it gave me some room and allowed me to play in short.”

Ashab needed only 25 minutes to see off Tsukue 11-4, 11-6, 11-9 before he saw his compatriot Tayyab go down to Pajares 6-11, 2-11, 7-11.

On the other half of the draw, second seed Marwan Elshorbagy discovered his second-round opponent after France’s Toufik Mekhalfi downed Henry Leung of Hong Kong 12-10, 11-3, 3-11, 11-4.

In other first-round matches, Alex Lau of Hong Kong eased past Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva 11-9, 11-5, 11-9; Egypt’s Yahya Elnawasany won three fiercely-contested games to beat Shahjahan Khan of the US 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 while his countryman Karim Al Hammamy swept past Spaniard Ivan Perez 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.

SANA, MARIAM EXIT

The women’s competition saw Pakistan’s challenge fizzle out early as both Sana and Mariam lost in straight games.

Sana, who is deaf and mute, fell to a 4-11, 1-11, 6-11 loss to Egypt’s Mariam Metwally, while Mariam was ousted by Chan Sin Yuk of Hong Kong 2-11, 4-11, 0-11.

Top seed Amina Orfi will face a fellow Egyptian in the second round after Haya Ali overcame Nour Heikal 11-9, 11-9, 11-5, while Nadine Shahin of Egypt beat compatriot Habiba Hani 12-10, 11-7, 11-4 for a second-round clash with second-seeded Malaysian Siva Subramaniam.

Two matches spanned the full distance with Nour Aboulmakarim scraping past Malaysia’s Aina Amani 7-11, 11-8, 11-2, 3-11, 11-6 while Torrie Malik of England won 13-15, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 against Egypt’s Menna Hamed.

“I didn’t really find my game in the first two games, although I was leading 10-9 in both of them. But I knew that I wasn’t going to give up,” said Malik.

In other matches, Nadine Garas of Egypt advanced past Hong Kong’s Tong Tsz-Wing 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 and Amina El Rihany beat France’s Marie Stephan 12-11, 11-7, 11-5.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2026