ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Noor Zaman made an impressive start to his campaign at the PSA World Championships by defeating Egypt’s Adam Hawal in the opening round in Cairo on Friday.

The world no. 28 displayed resilience and composure to overcome Hawal in a hard-fought five-game contest, winning 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 in 55 minutes to advance to the last 32.

After being stretched to a decider by the Egyptian, Noor held his nerve in the final game to complete a 3-2 victory.

He will now face either Egypt’s Mohammad Zakaria or Marwan Mahmoud Assal in the second round.

Meanwhile, fellow Pakistani Asim Khan suffered a straight-games defeat against fifth seed Joel Makin of Wales.

World No. 69 Asim was outclassed 11-1, 11-3, 11-2 in a one-sided 23-minute encounter as the Welshman dominated throughout.

Another Pakistani, Mohammad Ashab Irfan, is set to begin his campaign against Switzerland’s Nicolas Mueller, ranked world No. 29, in the first round.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2026