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 established a two-point lead to pull ahead and secured the game 11-7 to win in 46 minutes.”
The main draw begins on May 31, and Zaman will face England’s Curtis Malik on June 1. The other men to qualify during Thursday’s matches were Emyr Evans of Wales, Moustafa Elsirty of Egypt, and South Africa’s Dewald van Niekerk.
The Diamond level event carries a prize draw of $348,500 each for the men and women’s categories.
As of May 1, Zaman is ranked number three in Pakistan in the men’s senior rankings.
