A marathon all-Pakistani final of the Al Khaliji PSA Squash Challenger brought the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 event in Qatar to a climax when Danish Atlas Khan beat fellow teenager Farhan Zaman after a dramatic 34-point decider at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Doha.
A pair of contrasting victories over Egyptians in the previous two rounds took top seed Khan through to the fifth PSA Tour final of his career.
Second seed Zaman, also from the same city of Peshawar as his final opponent, brushed aside fellow countryman Khawaja Adil Maqbool in just 16 minutes in the other semi-final to reach the fourth final of his career.
And after underdog Zaman brought matters level after losing the first two games in the first Tour meeting of their careers, it was neck and neck throughout the fifth game until world No83 Khan finally overcame lower-ranked Zaman to clinch the title 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 18-16 after 65 minutes.
The win marks the fourth PSA World Tour title of Atlas Khan’s career.
Final:
[1] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 9-11, 18-16 (65m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 (39m)
[2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 13-11, 11-4, 11-3 (16m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 12-10 (82m)
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt [Q] James Simpson (ENG) 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) bt Basem Makram (EGY) 9-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6 (43m)
[2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Ammar Al-Tamimi (KUW) 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 (25m)
1st round:
[1] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Aamir Khan (UAE) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (29m)
Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt [Q] Mohammed Yaquop Hajeyah (KUW) 11-3, 12-10, 11-9 (23m)
[Q] Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Zeyad Tareq Alowaesh (KUW) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4 (19m)
[Q] James Simpson (ENG) bt [3] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) 11-5, 8-11, 11-4 ret. (22m)
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) bt [4] Bader Al Hussaini (KUW) 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6 (32m)
Basem Makram (EGY) bt Omar Abdullah Ahmed (QAT) 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 (19m)
Ammar Al-Tamimi (KUW) bt Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-8 (56m)
[2] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) 8-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 (29m)
Qualifying finals:
Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bt Ahmed Atef Abdel-Fattah (EGY) 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (48m)
Mohammed Yaquop Hajeyah (KUW) bt Abdul Rahman Al-Malki (QAT) 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 11-4 (43m)
Aamir Khan (UAE) bt Omar Khaled Kheiralla (EGY) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (20m)
James Simpson (ENG) bt Saoud Al Sulaiti (QAT) 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 (19m)
1st qualifying round:
Fares Mohamed Dessouki (EGY) bye
Ahmed Atef Abdel-Fattah (EGY) bt Abdulwahab Al-Ishaq (QAT) 8-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (21m)
Abdul Rahman Al-Malki (QAT) bt Abdulla Al-Mass (QAT) 11-5, 11-1, 11-6 (16m)
Mohammed Yaquop Hajeyah (KUW) bt Ali Miski (LIB) 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (16m)
Aamir Khan (UAE) bt Barrak Jassim Al Mattar (KUW) 5-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (29m)
Omar Khaled Kheiralla (EGY) bt Sadam Mehawesh (QAT) 8-11, 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 (21m)
Saoud Al Sulaiti (QAT) bt Ahmed Mohammed Al Tamimi (QAT) 12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 12-10 (41m)
James Simpson (ENG) bt Faisal Al-Marri (QAT) 11-5, 11-1, 11-2 (12m)
