KARACHI, Sept 7: Seventh seed Farhan Mehboob stamped his authority when he toppled second seed and compatriot Mansoor Zaman for the third time in a month to breeze into the Chief of the Naval Staff International squash championship final on Friday.

Giving yet another awesome performance, Farhan sent shock waves when he handed out a 11-9, 11-4, 11-5 defeat to Mansoor in 29 minutes at the PN Roshan-Jahangir Squash Complex.

He is slated to meet Egypt’s top seed Karim Darwish who lived up to his top billing when he halted the winning run of qualifier Yasir Butt in straight sets in the other pre-final.

The Egyptian took 24 minutes to wrap up the match 11-6, 11-5, 11-2.

Curtain falls on the four-day championship on Saturday when Karim faces Farhan for the glory. This will be their first-ever clash in any international event.

“Winning the first set was essential to bring the opponent under pressure in the match and the strategy clicked affectively,” Farhan, 18, who had beaten Mansoor in the Malaysian Open in five sets and CAS Open straight last month, told Dawn.

World No 54 Farhan, who had British and Asian junior titles under his belt, had overcome world No 24 Aamir Atlas Khan in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

He had the match on his side once he won the closely fought opener 11-9. Contrary to the first, he claimed the next two sets 11-4, 11-5 with ease by hitting winners.

Qualifier Yasir who caught the eye in earlier matches by getting the better of Ireland’s Liam Kenny and Australian Bradley Hindle met the fate tasting straight defeat at the hands of Karim.

“I was exhausted after playing two tough matches and that’s why I failed to deliver against my opponent who has been world No 5 in the past,” the Lahore-based Yasir told Dawn.

Yasir surged 3-0 and 4-1 up only to be tied 4-4 and 5-5 in the opener. Taking advantage of his opponent’s unforced errors, Karim earned four points in a row to surge 9-5 before winning 11-6.

At times the two players were engaged in long rallies in the second set. The Egyptian had a sway as he delighted spectators with his cross court shots and raced to earn a 10-3 lead. He conceded two points, the second through a stroke, before winning 11-5.

The Egyptian faced no resistance as he wrapped up the match taking the third set 11-2 scoring winners one after the other.

Results:

Semi-finals: Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Yasir Butt (Pak) 11-6, 11-5, 11-2; Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Mansoor Zaman (Pak) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Final: Karim Darwish (Egy) v Farhan Mehboob (Pak) 3.30pm.