PESHAWAR, : Hamza Sharif of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa clinched the trophy after defeating Ashab Irfan of Punjab in the thrill-packed 3-1 final of the All Pakistan U19 Squash Championship played here at Qamar Zaman Squash Complex on Thursday.
Former World Champion Jansher Khan was the chief guest on this occasion who witnessed the final where both Hamza Sharif, trained and coach by Muhammad Waseem, and Ashab Irfan of Punjab played well by exhibiting some classic display.
World Champion Mohib Ullah Khan, PAF Squash Academy Head Coach Atlas Khan, former World No. 10 Amjad Khan, District Sports Officer Tehseen Ullah Khan, Member Executive Council KP Squash Association Haji Sajjad Khan, Head Coach Blue Tone Squash Academy Wazir Gul, Secretary KP Squash Association Munawar Zaman, coaches Muhammad Waseem, Tahir Iqbal, Alam Zeb, Niamat Ullah, players, and large number of spectators were also present.
The match started on a fast tempo and Hamza failed to click by losing the first set at 6-11. The set was just tied once at 6-6 with Ashab Irfan fully dominated the set and raced up to victory very quickly. Ashab has better command over his smashes and cross backhand smashes, which created hardship for Hamza.
But Hamza, who represented Pakistan in the last year British Open Junior and reached the semi-finals, played excellently by leveling the set 11-7.
The set was tied at 5-5 and 7-7 when Hamza Sharif, a Directorate of Sports KP Academy player, dominated the proceedings and won the third set by 11-8. After taking the lead, Hamza Sharif did not look behind and marched into victory after winning the fourth set by 11-8 to seal the fate of the rival to 3-1.
At the end, former World Champion Jansher Khan gave away trophies and cash prizes to the position holders. Players from across Pakistan took part in the U19 Squash Championship, which carried prize money of Rs. 100,000.
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