Pakistan’s 2nd seeded Noor Zaman created history on Thursday when he defeated Egypt’s Kareem El Torkey and, in the process, won the first world U-23 Squash championship on his home turf.
A comeback Victory from behind
Noor Started the match confidently winning the first game with a score of 11-6. The Egyptian made a strong comeback when he clinched the 2nd and 3rd games with scores of 9-11 and 4-11. With his back against the wall and needing to win the remaining 2 games to win the world U-23 Squash championship, Noor came back against all the odds by narrowly winning the 4th game by 11-9 and then convincingly winning the final and deciding game 11-7 and thus etching his name in the history books as the first-ever u-23 squash world champion.
Noor’s road to Glory of World U-23 Squash championship.
Noor Zaman had been in top form throughout the tournament. His campaign started with a win over France’s Melvil Scianimanico in the first round before moving on to Poland’s Jakub Pytlowany and Kuwait’s Hussain Alzaatari to reach the semi-final. In the Semi-finals, Noor played probably his best game of the tournament, where he blanked his Malaysian opponent Ameeshenraj Chandaran 3-0. The scorecard for the match read 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 in the favour of Noor Zaman. On his part, Kareem also beat the top seed Ibrahim Elkabbani in the semi-final to earn his spot in the final.
Noor Zaman’s message after winning the world U-23 Squash championship.
Noor was ecstatic after winning the match. In an interview after the match, Zaman thanked all the fans who supported him throughout the week-long tournament. He said, “This win is for Pakistan. The support I have received has been overwhelming, and it pushed me to give my best on the court. I’m proud to carry forward the rich legacy of squash in Pakistan.”
A Historic moment for Pakistan.
There was a great amount of pressure on Pakistan in this tournament as not only was this the inaugural world U-23 Squash championship, but Pakistan was the host as well. The land of probably two of the biggest legends of squash, Jahangir Khan and Jan Sher Khan, Pakistan, has been struggling for glory for a long time, and this win can inject a breath of fresh air for our squash and can be the catalyst for the rise of Noor Zaman in future senior tournaments as well.
