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Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal are poised to compete in the final of the Asian Doubles Squash Championship 2025, after securing a hard-fought victory over Malaysia in the semi-finals.
The duo will face the top-seeded Indian pair, Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar, in Thursday’s high-stakes final.
Zaman and Iqbal battled their way to the final with a tense 2-1 win over Malaysia’s Syafiq Kamal and Duncan Lee.
The match, which lasted one hour and eight minutes, saw the Pakistani pair win with scores of 10-11, 11-9, and 11-9.
Their victory came after a thrilling contest that captivated the crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier in the day, Singh and Senthilkumar secured their place in the final after defeating Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan and Farhan Mehboob in straight sets, further intensifying the rivalry between the two nations.
With the two top seeds set to clash, the stage is set for an exciting showdown in the final.
Zaman and Iqbal, seeded second in the competition, have been in impressive form throughout the tournament.
Their journey to the final included a thrilling quarterfinal victory over Korea’s Jiang Min Ryu and Jaijin Yoo, as well as dominating performances in the group stage, where they secured wins over the Philippines and South Korea.
Zaman, the reigning World U-23 champion, had also competed in the Asian Individual Squash Championship earlier this month but was eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals by Malaysia’s Joachim Chuah in a five-game battle.
Now, with the doubles final on the horizon, Zaman and Iqbal will look to bring their best as they prepare for the challenge posed by India’s top seeds.
