Round Two : Gawad and Aboelkheir survive as Zaman keeps home hopes alive
Top seed Karim Abdel Gawad and third seed Fayrouz Aboelkheir narrowly avoided shock exits, coming through nervy five-game encounters at the Gold-level event in Karachi.
Gawad, who with victory this week, will overtake World No.3 Diego Elias in the PSA Rankings, battled back to defeat Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan in five games, while Aboelkheir edged past Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk in a thrilling fifth-game tie-break.
“I’m really happy to get through to the quarters today,” said Gawad, who was 2-5 down in the decider. “Irfan was my training partner when I was in Houston, staying there for the full summer in 2023, so I knew how tough it was going to be today.”
Meanwhile on the same court where she was crowned U23 World Champion last April, Aboelkheir came through an entertaining five-game clash with the unseeded Chan, saving match ball at 10-11 in the fifth.
Elsewhere Hong Kong’s Alex Lau advanced to his first Gold-event quarter-final after overcoming an injury-hampered Youssef Ibrahim in five games, setting up a tie with World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria.
Pakistan’s Noor Zaman remains the sole home hope left in the event, following a contentious ending to his matchup with No.8 seed Fares Dessouky. The Pakistani No.1 led 7-3 in the fifth game before a debate between Dessouky and the match referee ended in a conduct match being awarded in Zaman’s favour.
Round One : Home trio advance in Karachi
Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal, Noor Zaman and Muhammad Ashab Irfan took centre stage on the opening day of the Rich Venus Karachi Open 2026, scoring a trio of home wins to advance to the second round.
Wildcard Iqbal and Pakistan #1 Zaman claimed respective five-game wins over Moustafa Elsirty and Melvil Scianimanico to delight the home crowds within DA Creek Club, while Ashab Irfan raced past Ryunosuke Tsukue in three games.
World #134 Iqbal has enjoyed a wealth of success on home soil throughout his career, with 11 of his 18 PSA Tour titles coming in Pakistan – and the 31-year-old continued this strong record after battling back from two games down to defeat World #45 Elsirty.
After setting up a tie with fifth seed Mohamad Zakaria, Iqbal said:
It was a really great match today. It was so supportive playing in front of a home crowd. Events like this will be so good for the younger generation of players.
“In the first two games, I was a bit slow in the midcourt, and after going 2-0 down, I got told to push Moustafa to the back two corners because he’s so tall. When I pushed him back, it gave me some room and allowed me to play in short.”
Meanwhile 21-year-old Zaman got the better of fellow up-and-coming star Scianimanico in a topsy-turvy five-game duel. Despite dropping two games in a mid-match slump, the World No.38 recovered to seal an 11-9, 10-12, 3-11, 11-6, 11-6 win.
In the women’s draw, England’s Torrie Malik claimed the standout win after battling back from two games down to advance past Egypt’s Menna Hamed.
Despite spurning game balls in both the opening games, World #42 Malik rallied in impressive style, fighting back to defeat the World No.52 by a 13-15, 10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 scoreline.
