Qualification Begins in CNS International

#PSAWorldTour

The first qualifying round of the Pakistan Navy CNS International Squash Championship, PSA M5 tournament threw up several upsets with four of the top three seeds all crashing out in Islamabad.

New Zealand’s Evan Williams was one of the favourites to escape qualification, but the top qualifying seed came up short against Ahsan Ayaz, who was spurred on by a home crowd to a 3-1 victory.

Elsewhere, Pakistani number three seed Shahjahan Khan was knocked out by countryman Sadam Ul Haq in a hard fought match that lasted 90 minutes, with Ul Haq taking a climactic decider by an 18-16 margin to secure a 3-2 victory and set up a meeting with Farhan Mehboob, after the latter surged to a straight games win over Muhammad Farhan.

The only two players from outside of Pakistan to make it through to the next round were British Junior Champion Youssef Soliman of Egypt and World No.150 Ahmad Al-Saraj from Jordan, who defeated Amaad Fareed and Waqar Mehboob, respectively.

Al-Saraj will line up against Ayaz for a place in the main draw, while Soliman will take on Israr Ahmed, who eased past Mehran Javed.

Meanwhile, World No.207 Zahir Shah received a walkover and will lock horns with fellow Pakistani Abbas Shoukat after he overcame fourth qualifying seed Khawaja Adil Maqbool.

Results – First Qualifying Round: Pakistan Navy CNS International Squash Championship 2016
Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) bt [1] Evan Williams (NZL) 3-1: 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 (34m)
[8] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR) bt [7] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) 3-2: 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7 (49m)
Farhan Mehboob [5] (PAK) bt Muhammad Farhan (PAK) 3-0: 11-2, 11-5 (14m)
Sadam Ul Haq (PAK) bt [3] Shahjahan Khan (PAK) 3-2: 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 18-16 (91m)
Abbas Shoukat (PAK) bt [4] Khawaja Adil Maqbool (PAK) 11-8, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 (33m)
Zahir Shah (PAK) bt Unknown player (Walkover)
[6] Israr Ahmed (PAK) bt Mehran Javed (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 12-10 (27m)
[2] Youssef Soliman (EGY) bt Amaad Fareed (PAK) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (41m)

Draw: Final Qualifying Round
Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) v [8] Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR)
[5] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) v Sadam Ul Haq (PAK)
Zahir Shah (PAK) v Abbas Shoukat (PAK)
[2] Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [6] Israr Ahmed (PAK)

By Sam Allsop