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KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan players Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal have booked their place in the final of the Asian Doubles Squash Championship 2025, where they will face top-seeded India duo Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar on Thursday.
The Pakistani pair edged past Malaysia’s Syafiq Kamal and Duncan Lee in a tense semi-final encounter, prevailing 2-1 with game scores of 10-11, 11-9, 11-9. The match lasted one hour and eight minutes.
Earlier in the day, the Indian team had beaten Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan and Farhan Mehboob in straight games to secure their spot in the title clash, setting up a high-voltage final between arch-rivals.
Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal, seeded second in the tournament, have been in solid form throughout the event.
They reached the semi-finals after a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Korea’s Jiang Min Ryu and Jaijin Yoo, posting scores of 11-3, 5-11, 11-4.
In the final group-stage match on Tuesday, they secured qualification for the knockouts by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu-Wei and Chen Ching-Fu in straight sets, 11-2, 11-9, in just 11 minutes.
The pair had opened their campaign on Monday with comprehensive victories over the Philippines and South Korea.
Noor Zaman, the reigning World U-23 champion, had also participated in the Asian Individual Squash Championship earlier this month but was knocked out in the pre-quarterfinals by Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah. Zaman, struggling with a back spasm, went down in a five-game battle (3-11, 3-11, 11-3, 12-10, 2-11).
Pakistan will now be eyeing the doubles title as they prepare for a high-stakes final against India in Kuala Lumpur.
READ: Pakistan’s Asif loses to Malaysia’s Thor in Asian 6-Red Championship semi-final
