Squash ace Noor Zaman managed to come back to a thrilling 3-2 win over her French rival to advance to the next round and complete Pakistan’s performance at the Rich Venus Karachi Open on Tuesday.
Zaman won the first match 11-9, each point greeted by applause from the crowd gathered in the corridor between the courts at the Creek Club in the port city.
Frenchman Melvil Scianimanico took his revenge in the second set with a 12-10 victory. He then delivered an 11-3 drubbing to Zaman, who looked visibly tired in the third set as the crowd of teenage squash players and global icons like Jahangir Khan looked on, muttering their own predictions between shouts of praise for the local favorite.
Zaman is no stranger to comebacks, having been crowned U23 world champion at the same venue in April. He won the fourth set 11-6 and then demolished the Frenchman 11-6 to win the fifth set and the match to the cheers of the crowd.
Zaman, seeded eleventh, will face Egyptian Fares Dessouky on Wednesday in the round of 16. Dessouky is seeded eighth in the tournament and ranks 15th in the world.
“Melvil is a great player and so is Dessouky; it will be a fight to beat him tomorrow the same way I won the match today,” Zaman said. Dawn after the match.
“There is a lot to learn from high-level championships like this with all the best players in the world,” Zaman said of the PSA Gold level, the first in 2026.
“It’s great to have an event like this in Pakistan after years.”
The biggest surprise of the day came from Pakistani Nasir Iqbal, currently ranked 134th in the world.
The international veteran was trailing twice before making a comeback against Egyptian Moustafa El Sirty, world number 45.
After El Sirty won the first two sets 11-5, 11-8, Iqbal flipped the script and demolished the Egyptian 11-5, 11-9, 11-6 in the next three sets to claim Pakistan’s first victory of the day.
On the state-of-the-art glass court, Ashab Irfan secured an easy 3-0 victory against Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue with scores of 11-4, 11-6, 11-9.
In Wednesday’s round of 16, Irfan will face top-seeded Karim Gawad of Egypt.
“He is literally my squash idol, and playing against him tomorrow, that too at a Gold level PSA event, seems surreal,” said a beaming Irfan. Dawn.
Irfan reached a career-high ranking of 47th in the world late last year after a string of international victories. He recently committed to Trinity College in the United States, where he will start this year.
Zaman also reached his highest lifetime ranking of 37 last year with victories at the Canadian and United States championships.
“I want to break into the top 15 in the world this year,” Zaman said.
The other three Pakistani players – all wildcard participants – lost their matches and were eliminated from the tournament.
Sana Bahadar opened Pakistan’s championship campaign on the glass court against Egypt’s Mariam Metwally, who demolished her 11-4, 11-1, 11-6.
Bahadar is the first and only player in Pakistan and the whole of Asia to be completely deaf and unable to speak. She relies on her father, who accompanies her to every competition, to translate everything for her and often sign the score for her when it is not displayed on a screen.
“I was emotional when I found out Sana was deaf. I had never played a deaf player before, and it makes me realize how much we take for granted when we see her overcome the obstacles she has to overcome to reach this level,” world number 35 Metwally said. Dawn after the match.
Mariam Malik suffered a similar 3-0 defeat against Sin Yuk Chan of Hong Kong on the same court later in the day.
“It’s definitely a big margin to lose, but it’s also a confidence thing to play at a gold level event like this,” Malik said. Dawn.
“I can’t remember the last time a Pakistani player participated in a competition of this caliber, which helps develop local players like me and my teammates.”
Tayyab Aslam, also a wildcard, was beaten 3-0 by Spaniard Iker Pajares in 11-6, 11-2, 11-7.
