Khan & Zaman Close In On All-Pakistani Final In Islamabad

The first all-Pakistani final of the COAS International is on the cards after third seed Mansoor Zaman and fourth seed Aamir Atlas Khan came through today's quarter-finals on opposite sides of the draw in the PSA Tour event at Mushaf Squash Complex in the Pakistan capital city Islamabad.

Zaman, a semi-finalist for the past two years, survived three tie-break games in a 65-minute battle against Omar Abdel Aziz, eventually beating the unseeded Egyptian 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (1-3), 10-11 (1-3), 11-8.

The 26-year-old left-hander from Peshawar now faces Malaysia's second seed Ong Beng Hee, who was stretched to the limit by local qualifier Farhan Mehboob before prevailing 11-9, 10-11 (1-3), 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7 in 73 minutes.

Despite meeting in five Asian Championship finals since 1999, this will be only the second PSA Tour meeting between Beng Hee and Mansoor.

In the top half of the draw, Aamir Atlas Khan faced Egyptian qualifier Omar Elborolossy, a former world No14 almost twice his age! But 16-year-old Khan, also from Peshawar, stuck to his task and defeated the experienced 31-year-old from Cairo 11-10 (4-2), 11-9, 11-5 in 56 minutes.

Khan's opponent in the semi-finals will be England's Adrian Grant, the top seed from London seeking his second COAS title since 2004. Grant cruised to an 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 win in just 33 minutes over Hungarian Mark Krajcsak.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Mark Krajcsak (HUN) 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 (33m)
[4] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) 11-10 (4-2), 11-9, 11-5 (56m)
[3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 10-11 (1-3), 10-11 (1-3), 11-8 (65m)
[2] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-9, 10-11 (1-3), 11-9, 10-11 (0-2), 11-7 (73m)