A
stunning sequence of victories led to unseeded Pakistani teenager
Nasir Iqbal winning the Royal Lake Club Open, the inaugural
PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at The Royal Lake
Club in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
The
18-year-old from Peshawar made his breakthrough in the quarter-finals
where he upset local hope Muhd Asyraf Azan, the No2 seed from KL.
Iqbal
faced another Malaysian in the semis. But a 'contributed injury' in the
match sustained by Kamran Khan gave the third seed the chance to
recover overnight. When replayed the following morning, however, it was
Iqbal who prevailed, claiming his third successive straight games win in
the event.
The
other semi-final was an all-Indian affair, in which fourth seed
Harinder Pal Sandhu ended Ravi Dixit's run, beating the
qualifier 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 in 40 minutes.
But
Iqbal maintained his seed-slaughtering run in the final, beating Sandhu
11-6, 11-5, 11-5 to claim the second PSA Tour title of his career - but
his first on foreign soil.
Top
Seeds Suffer In Royal Lake Open
Upsets
continued in Kuala Lumpur today where the top two seeds crashed
out of the Royal Lake Club Open, the inaugural PSA World Tour
Challenger 10 squash event at the Malaysian capital's The Royal
Lake Club.
Kuwaiti favourite Abdullah Al Muzayen looked to be in control in
his quarter-final match against Ravi Dixit after taking a
two-game lead.
But
the Indian qualifier reduced the deficit after a tie-break third game,
and was leading in the fourth when a hamstring injury forced Al Muzayen
to concede the match.
Dixit's unexpected success now ensures Indian interest in the final as
he will meet compatriot Harinder Pal Sandhu in the semis. Fourth
seed Sandhu snuffed out Sanjay Singh of Malaysia 8-11, 11-8,
11-3, 11-8.
But
there will be home interest in the last four after KL-based third seed
Kamran Khan defeated English qualifier Nathan Lake 12-10,
11-6, 11-5.
However, in the day's other major shock, Pakistan's unseeded Nasir
Iqbal put paid to an all-Malaysian semi after upsetting Muhd
Asyraf Azan, the No2 seed from KL, 11-6, 11-7, 11-7.
Upsets Awash
At Royal Lake
The
quarter-finals of the Royal Lake Club Open will feature two qualifiers
and a lucky loser after a series of dramatic upsets in today's opening round of
the inaugural PSA World Tour Challenger 10 squash event at The Royal
Lake Club in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Local teenager
Sanjay Singh went down in Wednesday's final qualifying round - but
bounced back as a lucky loser when Pakistan's Muhammad Saqib Yousaf was
forced to withdraw from the event.
Undaunted by
his Kuwaiti opponent ranked almost 150 places higher, Singh stemmed a late
fight-back by Bader Al Hussaini to beat the experienced 28-year-old
12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 5-11, 11-6.
The
18-year-old from Sarawak now takes on Indian Harinder Pal Sandhu after
the fourth seed beat Taiwan's James Huang 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 11-9.
And qualifier
Ravi Dixit will provide additional unexpected Indian interest in the last
eight after despatching Canadian Fred Reid, ranked 70 places higher,
11-6, 11-4, 11-2.
Meanwhile,
Englishman Nathan Lake reduced home interest in the last eight by
upsetting KL-based Elvinn Keo, the highest-ranked unseeded player in the
draw, 11-2, 13-11, 7-11, 11-3.
The qualifier
from Cheltenham will now meet his second Malaysian in the event when he takes on
third seed Kamran Khan. The London-born 22-year-old from KL needed five
games to overcome Pakistani qualifier Khawaja Adil Maqbool 11-7, 8-11,
9-11, 11-9, 11-5.
