Pakistan Men Reach Squash Semifinals With Bronze Secured as Women’s Campaign Ends

Pakistan secured at least a bronze medal in the men’s squash team event at the Asian Games on Wednesday after defeating South Korea 2 0 in the quarterfinal, while the women’s team saw their campaign come to an end following a 2 1 defeat against China.

The men’s victory at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena sent Pakistan into the semifinals, where they will face Hong Kong on Thursday. Pakistan have already secured bronze in the individual squash competition through Noor Zaman and Mohammad Ashab Irfan, who will now look to help the team push for a place in the final.

Pakistan Men Sweep South Korea

Mohammad Ashab Irfan gave Pakistan an ideal start against Na Jooyoung in the opening rubber.

The 22 year old Pakistani gradually took control after a competitive beginning, moving into a 7 2 advantage before closing the opening game 11 5.

Jooyoung attempted to stay within touching distance in the second game, twice reducing the deficit to just two points. Ashab responded each time and eventually took the game 11 8.

The Korean player showed further resistance in the third, but Ashab remained composed when serving for the match. After failing to convert his first three opportunities, he finally finished the contest on his fourth attempt to complete an 11 5, 11 8, 11 8 victory in under 30 minutes.

Pakistan were therefore one win away from securing the quarterfinal.

Noor Zaman then stepped onto court against Seojin Oh with the opportunity to finish the tie, and the world number 33 delivered despite a brief challenge from his opponent.

Noor dominated the opening two games, winning the first 11 4 in six minutes before taking the second 11 5.

Oh produced his strongest spell of the match in the third game. After falling 8 7 behind, the 20 year old fought back to level the score before taking the game 11 8 and keeping South Korea’s hopes alive.

Noor responded immediately in the fourth.

He established an early four point advantage before producing a decisive seven point run to close the game 11 2 and secure both the match and Pakistan’s 2 0 quarterfinal victory.

The result booked Pakistan a semifinal against Hong Kong, who defeated Qatar in the other quarterfinal.

Women’s Campaign Ends Against China

Pakistan’s women could not produce a similar result as they lost 2 1 to China in their second round robin playoff match.

The defeat followed a 3 0 loss against Macau and ended Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.

Pakistan had finished third in their four team group behind Hong Kong and South Korea. That placed them into a secondary round robin competition involving China and Macau, with two quarterfinal places available.

Against China, Pakistan once again found themselves needing to recover from a slow start.

Thirteen year old Mahnoor Ali faced Ziyi Liu in the opening rubber but struggled to settle into the contest. Liu took the first game 11 4 before winning the second 11 8.

The Chinese player then opened up a sizeable advantage in the deciding game and eventually closed it out 11 2 to give China a 1 0 lead.

Sana Bahadar responded strongly for Pakistan in the second match.

Facing Yuning Zhang, Sana established a 7 2 lead in the opening game before her opponent fought back. The Pakistani held her composure and eventually won 11 7.

The second game was closely contested, with the lead changing hands seven times. Zhang moved ahead 9 6, but Sana responded with three consecutive points to level the score before taking the game 11 9.

Sana then dominated the deciding game. After the opening exchanges, she produced an eight point winning streak and completed an 11 2 victory, bringing Pakistan level at 1 1.

The tie therefore went to a decisive third rubber between 14 year old Sehrish Ali and China’s Ziyuan Yin.

Yin took control early and won the opening game 11 3. Sehrish attempted to fight back in the second, narrowing the gap to 9 5, but the Chinese player held firm and closed the game 11 7.

Sehrish briefly moved ahead in the deciding game, raising hopes of another Pakistan comeback. Yin responded with a strong run of points, regained control and eventually won the game 11 2 to give China a 2 1 victory.

The result ended Pakistan’s hopes of advancing to the quarterfinal stage.

Bashir Makes Strong Start in Shooting

Pakistan also made progress in the men’s 25 metre rapid fire pistol qualification at the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Gallery.

Three time Olympian Ghulam Mustafa Bashir finished the opening stage in eighth position after producing a score of 289 from his 30 shots.

Bashir recorded series scores of 95 in the eight second stage, 96 in the six second stage and 98 in the four second stage, including eight inner tens.

The Pakistani shooter, who won a bronze medal at the 2022 ISSF World Championships in Cairo, will return for the second qualification stage on Thursday.

Another 30 shots will determine his final score out of a possible 600 and establish whether he progresses to the final.

For Pakistan’s squash team, however, the focus now shifts firmly to Thursday’s semifinal, with the men already guaranteed a medal and one victory away from reaching the Asian Games final.

Courtesy: dawn