Pakistan’s medal hopes at the Under-23 World Squash Championships stayed alive on Tuesday, thanks to a dominant performance by Noor Zaman, who cruised into the semi-finals with a clinical 3-0 win over France’s Melvil Scianimanico at Karachi’s Creek Club.
Noor, the second seed, was calm under pressure as he faced a strong opponent in Scianimanico, a former European Junior Championship runner-up. Noor held his nerve in the tight second game and maintained his momentum to close out the match. “Squash is a lot about patience, and I think I had that all the way through,” Noor told the crowd after the match.
He remains unbeaten in the tournament and will face Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj Chandaran in the semi-final. Chandaran, seeded ¾, ended fellow Pakistani Hamza Khan’s run in four games. Despite losing the first two sets 11-7 and 11-9, Hamza showed resilience by taking the third 11-7, but the Malaysian regrouped quickly to win the fourth 11-6. A visibly upset Hamza exited the court in frustration after the loss.
In the consolation quarter-finals, Pakistan’s Mohammad Ammad delivered a clinical performance against Romania’s Radu Stefan Pena, winning 11-3, 11-5, 11-6. He will face Spain’s Ernesto Revert Escutia in the semi-final on Wednesday.
In the women’s section, Pakistan’s Sana Bahadur fell to Sri Lanka’s Yeheni Kuruppu despite a strong start. Sana took the first game 11-9 but couldn’t maintain her rhythm as Kuruppu fought back to win the next three games 11-7, 11-7, 11-3.
The women’s draw saw the biggest upset of the tournament when Malaysia’s Xin Ying Yee knocked out second seed Malak Khafagy of Egypt in a five-set thriller that lasted 65 minutes. Yee’s calm presence and tactical play helped her win the match 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, securing her spot in the semis.
Top seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt advanced to the last four with a 3-1 win over Hong Kong’s Tse Yee Lam Toby. In the men’s category, top seed Ibrahim Elkabbani and third seed Kareem El Torkey, both from Egypt, also reached the semis with straight-set victories.
With only Noor Zaman left in medal contention, the pressure now shifts to him to carry Pakistan’s hopes forward.
