Former Pakistan no. 1 Farhan Mehboob fetch US $1,710 & runner-up trophy of Serena Hotels Huawei International Squash Tournament
Mohammad ElSherbini defeated former Pakistan no.1 Farhan Mehboob by 3-2 to win the $20,000 Serena Hotels Huawei International Squash Tournament title here at the Mushaf Squash Complex, Islamabad.
Former Pakistan no. 1 Farhan Mehboob fetch US $1,710 & runner-up trophy as the world rank no. 70 Mohammad ElSherbini defeated Farhan Mehboob by 3-2 to win the $20,000 Serena Hotels Huawei International Squash Tournament title here at the Mushaf Squash Complex, Islamabad.
El Sherbini, the cousin of women’s world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini, put a shiny start though his best nick shorts he took control over the game to make it 8-4. El Sherbini who won 9 PSA title manage to claimed the first game by 11-5.
Farhan, whose career best world ranking was 16 in May 2009 and has now slipped to 73, started the second game on electrifying pace as riding on the crest of a wave fourth seeded Farhan continued his aggressive play through drop shorts to win it by 11-5.
The twisting third game started on a brisk pace as both the players tried to seal early initiative. Both players keeping each other engage in long rallies and both looked highly cautious and were not ready to hand over advantage to other as the score was 8-8.
At 9-8 El Sherbini tried to play drop shot where Farhan showed his class and utilized his wide international experience and displayed outstanding squash skills to win the game by 11-8.
In the highly charged fourth game, 5th seed El Sherbini bounced back where slow starter Farhan started fought back in style and matches fire with fire before it was 6-8 but the poor refereeing spoiled Farhan’s focus as Egyptian sealed the fate of the game 11-7 and equalized the lead at 2-2.
In the decider fifth game, both players tried to rule the day and gave hard time to each other at 9-6 but young Sherbini showed great squash skills to win the game by 11-8 and claimed the title of $20,000 Serena Hotels Huawei International Squash Tournament title here at the Mushaf Squash Complex, Islamabad.
Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Arif Hasan, President Pakistan Olympic Association graced the closing ceremony as chief guest and awarded trophies and prize money to the players. Senior Vice President, PSF Air Marshal Shahid Akhtar Alvi, Squash legends Mr Qamar Zaman, Mr Jansher Khan and a large number of dignitaries & squash enthusiasts were also present during the ceremony.
11 Pakistani players, a group of 13 international players from Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kuwait, South Africa, Spain and Zimbabwe participated in the tournament.
