Rania of Abbottabad wins KP Junior U17 Squash Championship

PESHAWAR
Rania Qazi of Abbottabad clinched the trophy after upsetting Manahil Aqeel in a marathon 3-2 battle in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U17 Squash Championship played here at Qamar Zaman Squash Complex on Tuesday.
President KP Squash Association and Secretary Local Govt Dawood Khan was the chief guest on this occasion. Chairman KP Squash Association and former World Champion Qamar Zaman, Director Blue Tone Academy Wazir Gul, former Nazim Nawa Khali Sajjad Khan, Chief Referee Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Munawar Zaman, coaches Adil Faqeer, players and large number of spectators were also present and witnessed the thrilling finals of the U17 Girls, U9, U11, U13 categories.
In the Girls U17 final Rania Qazi of Abbottabad marched into victory in the marathon five sets battle wherein Manahil Aqeel gave her rival very tough resistance.
Rania Qazi, a promising upcoming player, lost the first two set after a tough a battle, the score was 10-12 and 11-13 but she staged a strong come back and not only level the two sets lead of Manahil Aqeel after winning the third and fourth sets at 11-9 and 13-11 but also won the fifth set by 12-10. The final lasted for 52 minute and both Rania Qazi and Manahil Aqeel played well and a large number of spectators enjoyed the battle.
In the other final matches in the U9 category Atif Ali Naz handed another upsetting defeat to Ryan Zaman in 3-1 battle, the score was 11-9, 8-11, 12-10 and 11-9. In the final of the U11 category Anas Rafe recorded victory against Abdullah Riaz by 3-1, the score was 9-11, 11-9, 11-7 and 11-7. Both Anas Rafe and Abdullah Riaz played well and gave each other a tough fight but overall Anas Rafe dominated the match and did not give much time to Abdullah Riaz to play with free hands.
In the U13 Danish Sikander defeated Malik Muhammad by 3-2, the score was 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 13-11 and 11-9. Both Malik Muhammad and Danish Sikander played well and gave each other a tough fight. Danish has better command over his drops and nick shorts and Malik Muhammad tried hard to pick the same but it was a difficult task as Danish despite losing the first two sets, came back strongly and won three consecutive sets to win the final.
At the end of the final matches, the chief guest Secretary Local Govt Dawood Khan gave away trophies and cash prizes. Talking to media men, he said, the Squash association is mainly focusing on age group players that is why 25 to 26 tournaments including eight to nine events for female are part of the overall KP Squash Association calendar.
He said the players are gradually coming up at the grassroots level and hopefully they would achieve name and fame not only for KP but also for the nation. He said our female players have been showing tremendous performance and now winning medals at international level.
He also thanked DG Sports KP for extending all out support to the association.