KARACHI: Pakistan secured a spot in the semifinals of the Asian Doubles Squash Championship after defeating South Korea in a hard-fought quarterfinal match in Kuching on Tuesday.
The Pakistani pair of Nasir Iqbal and Noor Zaman overcame South Korea’s Jeongmin Ryu and Jaejin Yoo with a final score of 11-3, 5-11, 11-4 in a 37-minute match.
They will now face Malaysia in the semifinals scheduled for tomorrow.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan booked their place in the knockout stage by defeating Chinese Taipei in their final group match.
Nasir and Zaman outclassed Chi Yu-Wei and Chen Ching-Fu in straight sets, wrapping up the match in just 11 minutes with scores of 11-2 and 11-9.
Pakistan, the second seed in the championship, has been in remarkable form throughout the tournament.
On Monday, the duo began their campaign with back-to-back wins over the Philippines and South Korea in the group stage.
They dispatched the Filipino pair with ease, winning 11-7 and 11-4, and followed it up with a commanding performance against the Koreans.
For the unversed, Noor Zaman had earlier exited the Asian Individual Squash Championship following a narrow defeat in his pre-quarterfinal match.
Zaman, the reigning World Under-23 champion, was eliminated in a five-game thriller against Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah.
Struggling with a back spasm, Zaman lost the first two games 3-11, 3-11. He rallied impressively to win the third game 11-3 and edged the fourth 12-10, forcing a decider.
However, Chuah regained control in the final game, dominating 11-2 to seal the match and end Zaman’s run.
