CHARSADDA, Feb 20 (APP):National Champion and international squash player Muhammad Ammad clinched the trophy of the KP Junior Squash Championship U17 category after defeating his strong rival Yaseen Khattak in the final played at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex on Saturday.
DC Charsadda Adil Shah was the chief guest and witnessed the finals of the U17, U15 and U19 categories. District Sports Officer (DSO) Charsadda with the collaboration of district administration and Directorate of Sports KP organized the Championship in which more then 100 players participated.
Chief Referee Munawar Zaman, Coach Muhammad Waseem, DSO Charsadda Tehseen Ullah, large number of the students of PEACE College, two referees Adil Faqir and Umair Khan were also present.
The final provided a great thrill for the sitting spectators. Both Ammad and Yaseen exhibited good attacking display and received thundering applause.
Ammad, who is a national camp player and represented Pakistan in the British Open Junior, US Open, Doha, Qatar and Malaysia Open, played well against his strong rival Yaseen Khattak.
Yaseen, also represented Pakistan in the Pen Malaysia Open, Indian Open, Doha and Qatar Open, gave a tough resistance to Ammad in the marathon three sets battle lasted for 34 minutes. Ammad took the first set 13-11 before saving two set points at 10-10, 11-11. The set was also tied at 5-5, 7-7 and 8-8.
After taking the first set, Ammad played his forceful length short-game by putting Yaseen in the back of the court with some beautiful nick and drops. Famous for his nick drops Yaseen also played well and got the lead of 2-7 and 7-10 but again Ammad staged a comeback and first tied the tally 7-7, then at 10-10 and won the set by 12-10.
It was the third set in which Ammad played with great confidence and marched into victory at 11-8 to take the final match 3-0. Yaseen did some resistance and even succeeded in leveling the set at 5-5, 7-7 and 8-all but overall Ammad dominated the final.
In the U15 final Ibrahim Zeb recorded 3-1 sets victory against Shayan Ali. Both Ibrahim Zeb and Shayan Ali played well against each other. Shayan Ali played well but he made some many mistakes in the service and reception, giving much time to Ibrahim Zeb to strike back.
Shayan Ali was leading in the first set 2-7 and 7-10 but he lost the set by 12-10, similarly in the second and third set, Shayan Ali could not overcome his mistakes and lost the final to Ibrahim Zeb. Ibrahim is also a good upcoming player and after winning the first set at 12-10, he also got the second set 12-10 but failed to click in the third won by Shayan Ali at 9-11. Shayan Ali had a good chance to comeback into the final but he could not maintain his temperament and thus lost the fourth set by 11-5.
In the U19 category both international players Mutahir Ali and Fahad Sharif gave each other a tough fight and were stretched to five sets battle 3-2 in a marathon final that lasted for 49 minutes. Mutahir Ali and Fahad Sharif played well and exhibited attacking game with some fine forceful smashes were also witnessed.
Mutahir Ali got the first set by 12-10 and failed to click in the second and third set won by Fahad Sharif at 7-11 and 11-13. Mutahir Ali when conceded two sets to one staged a strong comeback and won two consecutive sets by 12-10 and 13-11.
At the end, the chief guest Deputy Commissioner Charsadda gave away trophies and cash prizes. Speaker on this occasion, he said to encourage the players the players were provided TD, DA and cash prizes even to the first round losers in all three age group categories.
He said Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex has all facilities of international standard and that is why a record 200 plus sports activities for both male and female are organized with the support of Directorate of Sports KP and District Administration Charsadda.
He assured the players that squash events for the female would also be organized very soon.
