PSF-COMBAXX Sports Squash Championship: Iqbal Takes Victory

Nasir Iqbal secured his second victory of 2021, after coming from two games down to defeat top seed Tayyab Aslam in the final of the PSF-COMBAXX Sports Squash Championship in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Challenger 10 tournament was held with domestic entry restrictions, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with only those currently based in Pakistan being allowed to participate in the tournament at the Mushaf Ali Mir Squash Complex.

World No.102 Iqbal started his campaign with three commanding victories, defeating wildcard Hamza Khan, Canada’s Darosham Khan and No.5 seed Farhan Zaman, in a total of less than an hour, to make it through to the semi-finals in Islamabad.

He then needed all five games to overcome No.6 seed Israr Ahmed in the last four, coming back after finding himself 2-1 down in the match, and he would have to recover from an even worse situation in the final.

He lost the first two games of the final on Tuesday against top seed, and World No.41 Tayyab Aslam, but the 27-year-old dug deep, and fought back to win the match 3-2, to claim his second title of 2021.

Results: PSF-COMBAXX Sports Squash Championship
Final
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) 3-2: 8-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4 (49m)

Semi-Finals
[1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Hamza Sharif (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 (21m)
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [6] Israr Ahmed (PAK) 3-2: 11-3, 9-11, 1-11, 11-3, 11-6 (48m)

Quarter-Finals
[1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt [7] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 3-0: 11-9, 11-5, 11-3 (24m)
Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt [3] Amaad Fareed (PAK) 4-1: 11-4, 6-11, 11-1, 5-11, 11-8 (39m)
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [5] Farhan Zaman (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-5 (17m)
[6] Israr Ahmed (PAK) bt [2] Asim Khan (PAK) 3-1: 12-10, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5 (47m)

Round Two
[1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Haris Qasim (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-6 (26m)
[7] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt [14] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 3-1: 11-9, 11-5, 5-11, 11-9 (36m)
Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt [8] Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 (21m)
[3] Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) 3-0: 10-12, 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (25m)
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [16] Darosham Khan (CAN) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-4 (19m)
[5] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt Salman Saleem (PAK) 3-1: 7-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-7 (30m)
[6] Israr Ahmed (PAK) bt [12] Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-2: 11-9, 4-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-3 (46m)
[2] Asim Khan (PAK) bt Waqar Mehboob (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-1, 11-5 (12m)

Round One
[1] Tayyab Aslam (PAK) bt Bilal Zakir (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-8 (16m)
Haris Qasim (PAK) bt [10] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) 3-2: 6-11, 11-2, 10-12, 11-9, 11-5 (41m)
[14] Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) bt Muhammad Abdul Qadir (PAK) 3-1: 9-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 (32m)
[7] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Zeeshan Khan (SWE) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 (18m)
[8] Zahir Shah (PAK) bt Asad Ullah Khan (PAK) 3-0: 12-10, 11-7, 11-5 (26m)
Hamza Sharif (PAK) bt [9] Waqas Mehboob (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9 rtd (14m)
Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) bt [15] Saeed Abdul (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 (17m)
[3] Amaad Fareed (PAK) bt Zeeshan Zeb (PAK) 3-0: 11-5, 13-11, 11-7 (33m)
[4] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [WC] Hamza Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 11-8, 11-2 (21m)
[16] Darosham Khan (CAN) bt Hasseb Taj (PAK) 3-0: 11-3, 111-3, 11-6 (15m)
Salman Saleem (PAK) bt [11] Syed Ali Mujtaba Shah Bokhari (PAK) 3-1: 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-4 (26m)
[5] Farhan Zaman (PAK) bt [WC] Faraz Muhammad (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-2, 11-7 (16m)
[6] Israr Ahmed (PAK) bt Muhammad Farhan (PAK) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-8 (15m)
[12] Noor Zaman (PAK) bt [WC] Khushal Riaz Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 (21m)
Waqar Mehboob (PAK) bt [13] Naveed Rehman (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-7 (20m)
[2] Asim Khan (PAK) bt Faizan Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 (22m)