British Open | Pakistan

Pakistani squash ace Noor Zaman clinched the final spot in the main draw of the prestigious British Open underway in Birmingham after beating Egypt’s Kareem El Torkey 3-1. The duo had met a month earlier, where Zaman’s 3-2 win over El Torkey saw him being crowned U23 World Champion on home turf in a thrilling comeback. Yesterday, 44th ranked Zaman defeated the Egyptian 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7 in a 46-minute game at the Solihull Arden Club in Birmingham. “Alhamdulillah, after a 20-year gap, I have qualified for the Main Round of the British Open. I am the first Pakistani to achieve this milestone,” Zaman said in a post on X. “Zaman found his range at the front and back of the court early in the fixture and looked focused as he took a commanding 2-0 lead,” according to a press release by the British Open. “The Egyptian responded by taking the third game 11-3, firing the ball in short and capitalising on Zaman errors. In a competitive fourth, there was noting to separate the two as the score reached 5-5, Zaman es...