Mehboob In Historic Karachi Title Triumph by Howard Harding 24 December 2013
- Pakistani Farhan Mehboob brought the 2013 PSA World Tour programme to
an historic close in the final of the CNS International in Karachi when
he became the first player of the year to win a title after beating the
event's top three seeds.
The unseeded
25-year-old from Peshawar made his breakthrough in the opening round of
the PSA International 15 squash event at the Roshan Khan Jahangir Khan
Squash Complex when he toppled third seed Danish Atlas Khan.
Mehboob, the World
No.147 competing in only his fifth Tour event of the year, then removed
second-seeded compatriot Farhan Zaman in a hard-fought 61-minute
semi-final.
Now in the 10th Tour
final of his career - and his first for more than a year - the former
World No.16 faced top seed Nasir Iqbal, the 19-year-old from Bannu who
has been the country's highest-ranked player since May.
The stylish
left-hander wasted no time in laying claim to the title of Pakistan's
best player when he despatched Iqbal, ranked 54 in the world, 11-6,
11-6, 11-5 in 51 minutes to successfully defend the title he last won
in 2008.
"It was a big moment
in my career, as critics had long written me down and out and said my
days are over, but now I proved all my critics wrong by defeating the
top seed Nasir and that too without any major difficulty," Mehboob told
The Nation later.
"I must thank head
coach Jamshed Gul for spending a lot of time with me in the training as
it was his hard work which paid off. Another motivation behind me was
my father Mehboob Khan who also spent day and night with me in the
courts to polish my game and skills.
"I am happy that the
performance in this event is one of the best in my entire career and I
have not trained much before the event. I have to play the likes of
Danish, Farhan Zaman and now Nasir Iqbal, but I managed to show
outstanding skills against the three tough opponents and won the title."
The Karachi triumph marks the fifth PSA Tour title of Mehboob's career.
RESULTS: PSA International 15 CNS International, Karachi, Pakistan
