KARACHI: Pakistan secured a silver medal at the Asian Doubles Squash Championship on Thursday, following a spirited performance in the men’s doubles final where they narrowly lost 2-1 to defending champions India in an intense showdown held in Malaysia.
The Pakistani duo, Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal, delivered a commendable effort against India’s Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar. Despite winning the opening game 11-9, the Indian pair bounced back strongly to take the next two games 11-5, 11-5, retaining their continental title after a match that lasted one hour and 27 minutes.
Zaman and Iqbal had impressed throughout the tournament with a strong campaign. In the semifinals on Wednesday, they edged past hosts Malaysia in another nail-biting three-game encounter, prevailing 10-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a match that stretched over one hour and eight minutes. The win came against the experienced Malaysian pair of Syafiq Kamal and Duncan Lee.
Earlier, in the quarterfinals, Pakistan defeated South Korea 2-1. The Iqbal-Zaman duo overcame Jiang Min Ryu and Jaijin Yoo with scores of 11-3, 5-11, 11-4 in yet another closely contested tie.
Their journey to the knockout stage was marked by dominant performances. In the group stage, they cruised past Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu-Wei and Chen Ching-Fu in straight games, 11-2, 11-9, finishing the match in just 11 minutes. Pakistan, seeded second in the tournament, had also registered comfortable wins over the Philippines (11-7, 11-4) and South Korea at the start of their campaign.
Noor Zaman had previously featured in the Asian Individual Squash Championship, where he exited in the pre-quarterfinals after a five-game battle against Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah. Despite battling a back spasm, Zaman staged a strong comeback after losing the first two games 3-11, 3-11, winning the next two 11-3, 12-10 before ultimately falling 2-11 in the decider.
Though gold eluded them, the silver medal marks a strong finish for Pakistan, showcasing resilience and competitive spirit against the region’s best.
