KARACHI, Jan 1: Qualifier Farhan Zaman of Navy sprang yet another surprise when he toppled second seed Shaikh Saquib of Punjab in five sets to qualify for the final of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Open squash championship at PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Thursday.

Farhan who made waves over the last two days by overcoming seeded opponents took 44 minutes to post an 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8 victory over Shaikh.

He is now slated to meet top-seed Kashif Khan of Sindh who registered a 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8 win over third-seed Hamza Bokhari of Punjab in the other semi-final which lasted 48 minutes.

The final between the two emerging players will be played on Friday afternoon. Both have stepped into any domestic men’s final for the first time.

Farhan, nephew of former great Qamar Zaman, who shocked fourth seed Aurangzaib Mahmond the other day kept his cool and was in no mood to surrender.

A member of the victorious Pakistan team that won the World Junior Squash Team championship at Switzerland, Farhan surged 2-1 up and some unforced errors cost him to lose the fourth set closely. However, he bounced back to win the fifth and decisive set.

Earlier, top seed and Sindh No 1 Kashif lived up to his reputation outwitting third-seed Hamza Bokhari in four sets.

Though Hamza opened the match on a sound note taking the first set, he could not maintain pace as Kashif claimed the next three in a row.

Semi-final results:

Kashif Khan (Sindh) bt Hamza Bokhari (Punjab) 9-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-8; Farhan Zaman (PN) bt Shaikh Saquib (Punjab) 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8.

Friday’s fixtures:

Kashif Khan (Sindh) v Farhan Zaman (PN) final at 3.15pm