Power Protege Toor Pakay Wins Maiden Tour Title

Just months after being taken under the wing of Canadian squash legend Jonathon Power, Pakistan's Maria Toor Pakay came through the qualifying event at the Liberty Bell Open in the USA before storming past four seeded opponents in the main draw to win the established WSA title in Berwyn, Philadelphia.

It was a remarkable maiden tour title success for the 21-year-old from Peshawar who wrote to hundreds of squash clubs across North America offering to coach in exchange for the opportunity to train - in a bid to develop a career which she felt was getting little support in her home country.

Power immediately responded, offering support from his newly-launched National Squash Academy in Toronto. The former world number one and world champion not only obtained a visa for the former Pakistan women's champion, but also found her accommodation.

"Once I saw her play, I knew what she could become," said North America's most successful squash player of all-time.

Appearing in her first Tour event for eight months, Toor Pakay beat France's No6 seed Celia Allamargot, tournament favourite Misaki Kobayashi and third seed Olivia Blatchford before capping off her sensational run by beating Canada's No2 seed Miranda Ranieri 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 in the final.

The giant-killing spree was made all the more impressive by the fact that Toor Pakay did not drop a single game throughout the competition en-route to becoming the first ever qualifier to win the Liberty Bell Open.