PESHAWAR:Consistent winner and top seeded Nimra Aqeel setup final showdown with her strong rival and second seeded Komal Khan in the grand final of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Girls Squash Championship being played here at Qamar Zaman Squash Complex on Wednesday.
District Sports Officer Peshawar Tehseen Ullah Khan was the chief guest on this occasion who witnessed both the semi-finals. Before the start of the semi-final matches the players including Nimran Aqeel, her younger sister Hira Aqeel, Sana Bahadur and Komal Khan were introduced to him. Organizing Secretary and Secretary KP Squash Association Munawaz Zaman, Executive Member KP Squash Association Sher Bahadur, Coaching Tahir Iqbal, Alam Zeb, Niamat Ullah were also present.
In the first match Nimra Aqeel recorded a hard fought victory against her younger sister Hira Aqeel in the marathon five sets semi-final. The score was 11-9, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11 and 12-10. Both Hira Aqeel and Nimra Aqeel played well and exhibited some excellent shots including nick and drop shots. Nimran Aqeel, who has the honor of playing international squash tournaments, played well but faced tough resistance against Hira Aqeel.
Hira lost the first two sets despite giving tough resistance, specially in the second set where both stretched to 12-10 and succeeded in winning the third and fourth sets but later on Nimra got full control over the whole proceeding and marched into victory.
In the second semi-final, which was also decided second seeded and Pakistan No. 1 in Under-19 category Komal Khan faced tough resistance against strong Sana Bahadur in the marathon five sets battle 3-2, the score was 11-13, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11 and 11-9. Sana Bahadur won the first set wherein both tried their hardest for a single point. Sana got the lead right in the start and Komal tried hard to level the set on a couple of occasions.
After winning the set, Sana failed to click in the second and third sets won by Komal at 12-10 and 11-9 but again Sana got the fourth set by 7-11. It was the fifth and decisive set won by Komal Khan at 11-9 and thus matched into the grand final. The final will be played on Thursday.