Noor Zaman Carries Home Interest Into World U23 Final

Pakistan's Noor Zaman is one win away from being crowned world champion on a home court after the 21-year-old booked his spot in the men's final of the World U23 Squash Championships by coming through an illness-curtailed semi-final against Malaysia's Ameeshenraj Chandaran at DHA Creek Club in Karachi.

Standing between Zaman and a fairytale ending for the Peshawari is 3/4 seed Kareem El Torkey, who came back from a game down to upset Egyptian compatriot and tournament top seed Ibrahim Elkabbani in a fiery encounter.

In the women's event, 3/4 seed Chan Sin Yuk of Hong Kong saw off a big comeback from Malaysia's Xin Ying Yee to book a title bout with top seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt, who defeated Malaysian 3/4 seed Aira Azman.

A weight of expectations has been upon Zaman all week in Karachi, where Pakistan is hosting the inaugural edition of the U23 World Squash Championship, the first world championship to be played in Pakistan in over 20 years.

While five of his compatriots have fallen in Sindh's squash-mad capital, Zaman has looked rock solid, dishing out convincing defeats to Melvil Scianimanico, Jakub Pytlowany and Hussain Alzaatari en route to the semi-finals.

Zaman made a rapid start against Chandaran, who had downed Pakistan's 2023 World Junior Champion Hamza Khan in the quarter-finals.

Though Zaman has been in fine form this week, even he may have been surprised by the ease with which he moved into a 2/0 lead. The reason soon became clear, however, during game three, when Chandaran pulled up and shook hands, with the Malaysian explaining that he had been unwell.

"Alhamdulillah for the first time at the World Championships," Zaman said. "This is such an honour for all of Pakistan, for me, and for my family.

"My grandfather [Pakistan squash legend Qamar Zaman] worked so hard with me, since I was eight years old, and I've been working so hard, especially after the World Team Championships, I've been working so hard on fitness."

Zaman's opponent El Torkey will go into tomorrow's clash filled with confidence after a brilliant performance against the favourite.

Elkabbani looked to be in control when he took the first game 11-7, only for El Torkey to strike back 11-2 in game two as Elkabbani complained of an issue with his hand.

Game three was far more even, with El Torkey moving into the lead with an 11-8 win against an increasingly frustrated Elkabbani. The top seed's temper boiled over in the fourth game, with Elkabbani handed a conduct stroke after one outburst too many. El Torkey took full advantage of his opponent's lapse in concentration, and pulled away to complete the comeback with an 11-5 victory.

In the women's semi-finals, Yee came close to repeating the heroics of her quarter-final win over No.2 seed Malak Khafagy, but came undone against a determined Chan.

Chan appeared to be cruising into the final when she took the first games 11-7, 11-6, only for the Malaysian to roar back with 11-4 and 11-7 wins to force an unlikely fifth game.

Chan, however, did not let the sudden reversal throw her, with the 3/4 seed attacking furiously from the first ball, blowing Yee away 11-3 to clinch the match.

Aboelkheir, too, was up against Malaysian opposition in the form of 3/4 seed Azman. The Egyptian went into the match with revenge on her mind, revealing afterwards that she still remembered how Azman had prevented an historic 10th consecutive all-Egyptian World Junior Championship final by beating Aboelkheir in the semi-final in 2023.

Clearly fired up, Aboelkheir made a dominant start to the match, which saw a number of collisions as the pair jockeyed for space.

After Aboelkheir had taken the first two games 11-8, 11-7, Azman briefly threatened a comeback when the Malaysian won game three 11-7.

The top seed was in an uncompromising mood, though, and she wrapped up the victory with an 11-4 game four win to earn her spot in the final.