Top seed Liu Tsz-Ling recovered from a game down to beat Egypt’s
Amina Yousry in the final of the 3rd Bahria Town International
Women’s Squash Championship, PSA W15 tournament - lifting her ninth
PSA World Tour title in the process.
The 24-year-old from Hong Kong rose to the final after claiming
three straight 3-0 victories while World No.63 Yousry, aged just 15,
toppled second seed Nadine Shahin and defending champion and home
favourite Maria Toorpakai Wazir en-route to a second successive PSA
World Tour final.
Yousry, who has undergone a meteoric rise up the world rankings
compared to her World No.206 ranking this time last year, outlined
her credentials as a future top-tier player as she took an
unexpected first game lead against an opponent ranked 22 places
above her.
Tsz-Ling battled back though and levelled proceedings after
prevailing on the tie-break before she stepped it up a gear in the
third to go ahead for the first time in the match.
With Yousry’s resistance broken, Tsz-Ling ramped up the pressure in
game four to take a 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 11-6 victory and win her
first PSA World Tour event of 2016.
Pakistani duo Sammer Anjum and Rushna Mehboob sealed their spots in
the main draw of the 3rd Bahria Town International Women’s Squash
Championship, PSA W15 tournament after claiming straight games
victories over Madina Zafar and Zoya Khalid, respectively, on home
soil.
Anjum, who received a bye in the first qualifying round, dominated
her fixture with Zafar and sent her opponent into all four corners
of the court with regularity as she romped to an 11-5, 11-6, 11-9
victory in just 21 mins.
Hong Kong’s Lee Ka Yi lies in wait for Anjum in the opening round of
the main draw where Anjum will aim to reach the quarter-final of a
PSA World Tour event for only the third time in her career.
Mehboob, meanwhile, eased past Khalid in a stunning 15-minute salvo
and moves on to face Nouran El Torky in the next round.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Aika Azman earned her place in the main draw
with a 3-1 victory over Farah Momen. Azman has reached the
quarter-final stage at least at her last five PSA World Tour
tournaments but will need to at her best to defeat third seed Maria
Toorpakai Wazir next if she is to keep that run going.
Catur Yuliana was the final qualifying round’s other victor after
she prevailed in a tense five-game battle with Muqaddas Ashraf and
she will meet Tong Tsz-Wing in round one of the main draw.
The first qualifying round of the 3rd Bahria Town International
Women’s Squash Championship, PSA W15 tournament saw a number of
local
players move through to the next round in Islamabad.
Rushna Mehboob secured her spot in the final round of qualifying
after an impressive dismantling of number four seed Saima Shoukat.
Mehboob was in complete control throughout the 20-minute encounter
and stormed to an 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 victory.
Mehboob will face off with fellow Pakistani player Zoya Khalid for a
place in the main draw action after Khalid came through in straight
games against Neha Kamal Khan.
Madina Zafar, meanwhile, earned her final qualifying round berth
after a magnificent display against Anam Mustafa Aziz. Zafar took
the
opening two games comfortably and edged the third to set up a next
round meeting with Sammer Anjum, who progressed courtesy of a
bye.
Elsewhere, Farah Momen claimed a 3-0 victory over Zahab Khan to
ensure that she will face the Malaysian top qualifying seed Aika
Azman
in the next round after Aizman received a bye.
Muqaddas Ashraf and Catur Yuliana will go head-to-head in the other
final qualifying round clash with the former also being the
recipient of
a bye while Yuliana, the only Indonesian female player on the PSA
World Tour, downed Faiza Zafar.