Hamza Khan stuns France’s Joshua in thriller to reach Valencia Open final

VALENCIA: Pakistan’s squash star Hamza Khan produced a sensational comeback to book his place in the final of the Valencia Open Squash Championship, defeating France’s Joshua Fenera in a nail biting semi final on Saturday.

The intense contest lasted 49 minutes, with Hamza overturning a 1-2 deficit to clinch a 3-2 victory in five games. 

Hamza dropped the opening game 10-12 but bounced back strongly to win the second 11-6. 

However, Fenera regained the lead by taking the third 11-5, putting the Pakistani player under pressure. 

Hamza responded with a commanding 11-3 performance in the fourth before sealing the decider 11-5 to secure his place in the title clash.

With the win, Hamza sets up a final against Spain’s top seed Iker Pajares.

The Valencia Open, currently underway in Spain, carries a prize purse of USD 15,000.

For the unversed, Pakistan team comprised of Abdullah Nawaz, Anas Ali Shah and Muhammad Umair Arif, registered a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Korea to finish fifth in the World Junior Squash Championship men’s competition at the Black Ball in Cairo on Friday.

Pakistan had an unwanted start to the final placement match as Abdullah succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against Joo Young Na.

Abdullah won the opening set 12-10 to make a promising start to his duel, but Young Na staged a sensational comeback and won three consecutive sets to give Korea a 1-0 lead by prevailing 12-10, 4-11, 3-11 and 3-11.

With a 1-0 deficit, Anas stepped up for Pakistan and beat Jeong Uk Ryu 11-6, 7-11, 11-3, 5-11 and 11-3 to neutralise Korea’s lead and force the match into the decider.

In the third and final tie of the match, Umair also received tough competition from Jonghyeok Lee as the duo played out a five-set thriller, with the former eventually emerging victorious 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11 and 11-8.

His hard-fought victory lifted Pakistan to secure fifth position in the World Junior Squash Championship 2025.

The national team started their fifth to eighth classification position campaign with a thumping 2-0 victory over Czech Republic, with Abdullah and Umair winning their respective matches convincingly.