Pakistan’s squash star Noor Zaman has secured a major victory at the Silicon Valley Open in California, defeating defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad to reach the quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old beat the Egyptian world No. 4 by 3-1 in their round-of-16 clash on Wednesday. The match took place at Squash Zone in Redwood City and lasted 52 minutes.
Noor Zaman Delivers Impressive Performance
Zaman, who faced the tournament’s second seed, won the match with scores of 11-9, 11-7, 9-11 and 11-6. Although Gawad claimed the third game, the Pakistani player maintained his composure and closed out the contest in the fourth.
After the victory, Zaman expressed confidence in his ability to compete against leading international players.
“I was ready mentally and physically today, and I think now is the time for me to beat the top players,” he said.
Strong Run Continues in California
Zaman had already booked his place in the last 16 after defeating American wildcard Bransten Ming. He lost the opening game 3-11 but recovered to win the next three games 11-5, 11-8 and 11-9.
The Peshawar-born player is the grandson of former world squash champion Qamar Zaman. He also won the 2025 World Under-23 Squash Championship and has collected several Professional Squash Association titles.
Meanwhile, fellow Pakistani Mohammad Ashab Irfan exited the competition after losing 3-0 to Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy. Irfan had reached the round of 16 by defeating Hungary’s Balazs Farkas in straight games.
The Silicon Valley Open is a PSA World Tour Gold event offering $143,500 in prize money in the men’s competition. Squash is also preparing for its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Zaman’s latest result gives Pakistan another strong performance to follow as the tournament progresses.
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