ISLAMABAD - Danish Atlas Khan and Nasir Iqbal booked their berths in the PSF-AVT Pakistan International Squash Circuit-IV Championship final after beating their respective rivals in the semi-finals at Mushaf Ali Mir Squash Complex on Saturday.
The championship carries a total purse of $10,000 prize money. In the first semi-final Nasir Iqbal was declared winner against Farhan Mahboob who got injured during the match. Nasir won the first game 13-11 while Farhan looked upset over the referee's decisions. Farhan shrugged of the disappointment of losing the first game and won the second game 13-11. Farhan took a 3-minute injury break before the start of the third game as his feat was badly bruised.
The real turning point of the match came at a stage when both players were locked at 2-2 as Farhan tried to pick a low ball and slipped and got severe injury as his head collided with the floor. Meanwhile, doctor rushed to the spot and it seemed the match would be over as Farhan was by no means looking in a condition to continue the match.
After a 25 minutes break, Farhan decided to return to the court, but as the match was about to restart, the referee Sajjad Ahmed awarded the third game in favour of Nasir Iqbal citing waste of much time by Farhan for medical treatment. Farhat protested over referee decision and said he was slipped due to the pathetic condition of the court and demanded to show the rule book. Chief referee Jamshed Gul, than brought a paper and shown to Farhan but the player kept on insisting that the paper doesn't provide the clear information regarding the awarding of the game.
Jamshed stands by referee's decision, Farhan decides to concede the match in protest and thus Nasir declared the winner of the match that lasted for 67 minutes. Sajjad Ahmed was the chair referee while Asif and Imran assisted him. It was arguably the most entertaining match of the entire event but lack of knowledge about the rules spoiled the great finale.
In the second semi-final Danish Atlas Khan beat experienced Yasir Ali Butt 3-1 in 60 minutes. Danish was looked relaxed and composed right from the start of the match and never allowed Yasir any room in the first game and took the game 11-7.
Yasir used his experience and mind games and won the game 11-9. But Danish despite conceding a game regained his rhythm and never looked back to take third game 11-8.
Danish was leading 6-3 in the fourth game when Yasir took 3-minute timeout to address his injured finger. Danish took the game 11-9, thus winning the crucial semi-final 3-1.
Mahboob Khan supervised the match while Ghulam Sher and Nazeer Khan assisted him. Federal Minister for Safron Engr Shaukat Ullah was the chief guest on the occasion and remained at the venue for quite some time and enjoyed the match between Farhan and Nasir Iqbal. The final will start at 4:00pm; Air Marshal Asim Suleman DCAS (Support) will be the chief guest on final.