Noor Zaman storms into Charlottesville Open semifinals
Zaman will now take on top seed Timothy Brownell of the United States in the semifinal
KARACHI: Pakistan’s rising squash star Noor Zaman continued his impressive run on the PSA World Tour as he advanced to the semifinals of the Charlottesville Open with a straight-games victory over Egypt’s third seed Yahya Elnawasany.
The eighth seed needed just 35 minutes to secure the win, prevailing 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in their quarterfinal clash on Thursday.
Zaman will now take on top seed Timothy Brownell of the United States in the semifinal.
Brownell reached the last four after defeating India’s Veer Chotrani 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6) in 41 minutes.
In other quarterfinal matches, England’s Sam Todd overcame Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8), while Egypt’s Salman Khalil knocked out fourth seed Velavan Senthilkumar of India 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3).
The Charlottesville Open, part of the PSA World Tour and carrying a prize purse of $31,250, has witnessed Zaman rise as one of the standout performers.
Earlier in the tournament, the 21-year-old overcame England’s Tom Walsh 3-1. After clinching a tense opening game 13-11, he powered through the second 11-5.
Walsh pulled one back 11-5, but Zaman sealed the match with a dominant 11-5 in the fourth to set up his quarterfinal clash against Elnawasany.
Zaman’s strong form comes on the back of winning the Nash Cup in Canada last week, another PSA World Tour event.
In that tournament, the fifth-seeded Pakistani stunned the No. 2 seed in a thrilling 3-0 victory, edging a marathon first game 19-17 before wrapping up the contest with 11-7 and 11-9 wins.
In Charlottesville, other quarterfinal results saw England’s Sam Todd defeat Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8), while Egypt’s Salman Khalil knocked out India’s fourth seed Velavan Senthilkumar 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3).
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s other representatives failed to progress beyond the Round of 16.
Asim Khan was beaten 3-0 by top seed Brownell, while India’s Chotrani ended Ashab Irfan’s campaign with a 3-1 victory.
Comments