ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: Karim Darwesh of Egypt Monday won the inaugural COAS International Squash Championship with a not too tough 15-8, 15-6, 15-8 victory over compatriot Muhammad Abbas at the Roshan Khan Courts.

Ranked No 11 in the world, Darwesh’s win that came in 35 minutes was worth $4180, a cheque presented to him by president Gen. Pervez Musharraf along with an impressive trophy.

Abbas, ranked 37, was unable to put up the kind of show that had seen him knock out Pakistan’s Zubair Ali Khan in the first round followed by Mansoor Zaman’s elimination in the quarterfinals and the semifinal blow dealt to Farrukh Zaman.

Darwesh appeared well in control from the start as Abbas could not match his opponent making several unforced errors. He hit the tin at crucial stages that cost him important points and conceded the game somewhat easily.

In the second game too, Darwesh stormed into the lead, never allowing Abbas to come close making his intentions of winning the trophy quite clear.

A close fight was witnessed early in the third game but Darwesh, clearly the superior player, took a runaway lead after the scores were tied 4-4 and never looked back, wrapping up the game and the match in quick time.

Following the final, watched by a handsome crowd, Muhammad Ilyas was adjudged the Gentleman of the Tournament for showing sportsman spirit by not reacting to a deliberate push by Shahid Zaman, an incident in which he hurt his left hand.

Ilyas was two games down and level 8-8 in the third when the incident occurred in the first round match between the two Pakistani players. Tournament officials ruled that the act was intentional and awarded that match to Ilyas.

Despite his injury, he played on in the tournament, losing to Farrukh Zaman in the quarterfinals.

The award for Best Player of the Tournament went to Farrukh, who was the only home player to feature in the semifinals where he crashed out to Abbas Sunday.

Meanwhile Gen Musharraf called for the private sector to come forward and contribute towards the promotion of sport.

“The government alone cannot do much in this regard, so the private business community should contribute money to sports,” he said in his speech.

He congratulated the president of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir and the head of the Punjab Squash Association (PSA), Lt. Gen Zarar Azim for contributing to the promotion of the sport.

The COAS tournament was organised by the PSA, who had also successfully staged the Pakistan Open last year at Lahore.