Pakistan’s Noor Zaman, Nasir Iqbal storm into Asian Doubles Squash final

SARAWAK: Pakistan’s top pair of Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal continued their dominant run at the 3rd Asian Doubles Squash Championship 2026, securing a straight-games victory over Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj Chandaran and Joachim Chuah to book their place in the final here on Saturday.

The Pakistani duo, competing as Pakistan Team One, extended their unbeaten streak in the tournament with a commanding 2-0 win in the semi-final, taking the match 11-8, 11-5 in just 25 minutes.

The victory, which meant the duo finished the pool stage unbeaten, also propelled them into the quarter-finals, where they squared off against South Korea’s Oh Seojin and Lee Minwoo.

Noor and Nasir faced strong resistance in the knockout fixture as Seojin and Minwoo edged the opening game narrowly 12-10.

However, the Pakistan pair regrouped and produced a remarkable turnaround, securing the next two games 11-4 and 11-2 respectively to seal a comeback victory and book their place in the semi-finals scheduled to be played here on Saturday.

In another quarter-final, Pakistan’s second team of Muhammad Hamza Khan and Muhammad Asim Khan suffered a gruelling 2-1 defeat at the hands of Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva and Duncan Lee, thus bowing out of the title race.

Hamza and Asim made a strong start to the knockout fixture, taking the first game convincingly 11-4, but could not maintain their momentum in the following two games, which Jeeva and Lee clinched 11-9 and 11-7 respectively to complete a hard-fought victory for Malaysia.

For the unversed, Pakistan to face arch-rivals India in the Asian Doubles Squash final on Sunday.