Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal secured a silver medal at the Asian Doubles Squash Championship despite a brave effort in the final on June 26.
The Pakistani duo fought hard, but eventually lost to the defense masters, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar from India, who prevailed 9-11, 11-5, 11-5 to preserve their title.
The final held at Kuching Sports Complex in Malaysia was a hard -fought affair that lasted 1 hour and 27 minutes.
Although Zaman and Iqbal came out strongly, their Indian colleagues grouped themselves after the first set to demand a victory in the remaining two and sealed the gold for India.
Pakistan’s journey to the final was impressive, with Zaman and Iqbal defeating Malaysia in the semi-finals of a tense three-match match.
The couple won 10-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a competition that lasted an hour and eight minutes, which overcomes Syafiq Kamal and Duncan Lee to book their place in the final. Previously, they had delivered another exciting performance to Kant past Korea in the quarterfinals and won 11-3, 5-11, 11-4 against Jiang my Ryu and Jaijin Yoo.
In the group steps, the Pakistani couple showed excellent form and secured a place in the knockout rounds with a comprehensive victory over the Chinese Taipei.
Zaman and Iqbal sent Chi Yu-Wei and Chen Ching-Fu 11-2, 11-9 in just 11 minutes to ensure qualification.
Like other seeds in the tournament, the Pakistan team showed consistency from the start with dominant victories over the Philippines (11-7, 11-4) and South Korea. Their performance throughout the championship demonstrated their potential in double squash at the Asian level.
Individually, Zaman had previously competed in the Asian individual squash championship, where he was removed in the pre-quarter finals by Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah after a five-game thriller.
Despite having fought for a back pass, Zaman staged a comeback after losing the first two games 3-11, 3-11, but eventually fell 2-11 in the decision.
Although Pakistan fell short of the final, their silver medal marks a significant performance in the tournament, reflecting their strength as a double team and their rising stature in international squash.
