ISLAMABAD, May 15 Aamir Atlas Khan battled hard to lift the COAS Squash Championship trophy after a thrilling contest against second seed Farhan Mehboob at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Friday.

Aamir, top seed of the championship, built an aggressive momentum in the first game and convincingly sealed it 11-7.

The energetic Aamir received a setback when Farhan, playing a changed game with a new style and technique, lifted the second game 11-8.

Despite being slightly jaded, Aamir managed to put up a hard fight against left-handed Farhan as the electronic scoreboard kept on ticking 2-3, 3-4, 4-4.

A neck and neck fight continued between both the players as they displayed long rallies when the match was tied at 6-6 and 8-8.

Bad luck struck a confident looking Aamir who was proceeding well and lost the third game 9-11.

In the fourth game, eighteen-year-old Aamir contained Farhan and fought back to get 2-1 lead by playing some good drop-shots. He dispatched Farhan and battled through to claim the fourth game 11-8.

It was in the fifth game when the defending champion, Aamir, continued his momentum for more points and got a psychological advantage over Farhan, who smashed his hand against the glass wall while losing some easy points and the match-referee had to warn him.

After gaining the psychological edge over his opponent, Aamir sealed the fate of the 52-minuter thriller with an 11-8 win in the fifth game.

“Farhan played well but I was confident of winning the championship,” Aamir told Dawn.

He added, “Despite losing the second and third game, I did not give Farhan any room and also changed my strategy.”

“My next target is to claim the top slot in the international squash ranking,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the women's final was a one-sided affair as Maria Toor proved too good for Muqaddas Ashraf, recording a straight set 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 triumph in only 16 minutes.

Results

Finals

Men's Aamir Atlas (Wapda) bt Farhan Mehboob (Wapda) 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8 (52 min).

Women's Maria Toor (Wapda) bt Muqaddas Ashraf (Wapda) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (16 min).