KARACHI Fourth seed Zoya Khalid of Army captured first open title of her career when she toppled top seed Muqaddas Ashraf of Wapda in the agonising final of the inaugural Karachi Women's Open Squash championship at Karachi Club on Wednesday.

Picking up from where she had left on Tuesday, Zoya continued her ruthless form when she overcame fighting opponent 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 41 minute duel.

'I'm feeling happy for making a mark in the open category,' a jubilant Zoya told Dawn after the triumph.

A former national under-15 and under-17 champion, Zoya said she had worked hard for the event which finally paid off.

Prior to coming to the city she had won an under-19 national ranking title in Lahore last month beating Rushna Mehboob in the final.

She was also member of Pakistan team that won bronze in the Asian Juniors Squash championship at Hong Kong last year. The other two members of the team were Maria Toor and Rushna Mehboob.

Zoya recovered twice after losing the first and third games to surprise the pundits of the game.

Muqaddas, who was seeded on top following withdrawl of Maria Toor at the eleventh hour, enjoyed an edge in the beginning taking 2-1 lead in the final but could not stand the challenge from her opponent.

The winner fetched Rs13,300 while the runner up received Rs9,100 after the final. The event carried a total prize money of Rs70,000.

Final result

Zoya Khalid (Army) bt Muqaddas Ashraf (Wapda) 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7.