Unseeded Sindh hopeful Raheel Victor produced a major upset at the 4th McDonald’s National Junior Squash Championship in Karachi when he outplayed third seed Faizan Ali Khan of Army to reach the Boys Under-15 semi-finals.
The five-game thriller lasted one hour and two minutes and ended 11-6, 11-9, 11-13, 9-11 and 11-6 in favour of Raheel, who booked his place in the last four alongside Fawad Khan, Abdul Hadi and Danish Sikandar. The upset by Raheel Victor is among the tournament’s most notable results to date.
Fawad Khan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secured his semi-final berth with a win over Punjab’s Jasim, while KP’s Abdul Hadi defeated Ishtiaq Khalil. Danish Sikandar advanced after Punjab’s M. Bin Atif retired hurt in their quarter-final encounter.
In the Girls Under-19 category Mahwish Ali, Manahil Aqeel, Nimra Batool and Damiah Khan qualified for the semi-finals. Top seed Mahwish Ali of WAPDA defeated fellow WAPDA player Nimra Rehman 3-1, Manahil Aqeel of KP edged Alishba 3-2, Nimra Batool of Sindh beat Nahida Faiz of KP 3-0 and Damiah Khan of Sindh registered a straight-game victory over Rania Qazi of KP.
Results issued by Naveed Rehman, Secretary General of the Sindh Squash Association, list the Boys Under-11 semi-finalists as Abdul Rehman Riaz (PAF), Muhammad Sameer (PAF), Atif Ali Naz (Sindh) and Anas Rafi (PAF) following their quarter-final wins.
In the Boys Under-9 category Muhammad Aban, Muhammad Hasnain and M. Bin Naseem of Sindh, along with Abdul Hadi of Punjab, advanced to the semi-finals after winning their quarter-final matches.
Organised by the Sindh Squash Association at the Venus Jahangir Khan Squash Academy, PSB Karachi Centre, the championship carries a total prize fund of Rs 800,000 and features a 32-player main draw in each category with McDonald’s Pakistan as title sponsor. The tournament continues today with semi-final matches across all categories.
