ISLAMABAD -
Danish Atlas Thursday stormed into the semifinals of the Second Martyr Fahad Al-Ahmad Squash Tournament in Hawalli, Kuwait after beating Farhan Zaman 3-2 in the quarterfinals. He is lone Pakistani left in the prestigious event as Khawaja Adil Maqbool lost the other quarterfinal against second seed Andrew Wagih Shouukry of Egypt.
Talking exclusively to The Nation from Kuwait, Danish said: “It was really a tough match and especially keeping in mind Farhan Zaman is also from Pakistan. Farhan had beaten me in the trial matches for the selection of Pakistan squad for the World Senior Team Squash Championship, so I had a point to prove, which thankfully I managed to achieve.”
“The first game started at a high tempo as both of us tried to seal the early initiative. It was a see saw battle as we fought for each and every point before Farhan managed to take the first game 11-9. It forced me to change my game plan and I decided to adopt aggressive style which paid off as I won the second game 11-8 and third game 11-5. But after winning the third game, I just let Farhan off the hook which he duly obliged and bounced back to win the fourth game 11-5. The fifth game was a completely different from the entire match, as I find my lost touch and completely outclassed Farhan in all departments of the game, winning the game 11-3 to book a place in the semifinal against second seed Andrew Wagih of Egypt, who beat another Pakistani lad Khawaja Adil Maqbool 3-0 in the quarterfinal,” he added. In the other quarterfinal, top seed Abdullah Al Muzayen of host nation beat compatriot Ammar Altamimi 3-1 to book a semifinal place against another host nation player Mazen Hesham Sabry. Abdullah beat Ailamimi 11-4, 9-11, 11-3 and 11-8. “I am quite confident that I have been playing almost at the top of my game and I will put all my energies to win not only the semifinal but also the final for my country,” Danish concluded.