Qatar's Syed Azlan Amjad (right) in action during the second Aspire Academy Professional Squash Association (PSA) Satellite Tournament at the Academy’s squash courts on Thursday.
Qatar's Syed Azlan Amjad defeated Umair Zaman in an all Qatari clash to win the second Aspire Academy Professional Squash Association (PSA) Satellite Tournament in Doha on Thursday.
Amjad clinched the title after a tough final against Zaman in a game that finished 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
Some of the best players from Qatar battled it out against visiting players from Spain and Jordan.
The tournament took place at the Academy’s squash courts. It featured 16 PSA registered players including the Qatar number two and defending champion Amjad, who won the inaugural event last year.
A number of student athletes and former graduates from the Academy also took part including Abdulrahman Al Malki, ranked 341 in the world, Hamad Al Amri, Rashid Al-Harib, Abdulaziz Al Ishaq and Waleed Zaman.
Six Spanish players also participated in the tournament, including Kike Garcia and Xurxo Codesito Perez who both impressed during the event.
Aspire Academy’s student athletes put in a number of strong performances during the final stage of the tournament.
Amjad secured his place in the final after defeating the former world 70th seeded player, Mohammed El-Said from Jordan. Meanwhile, Zaman, ranked 292nd in the world, progressed to the final after defeating Hamad Al Amari.
Commenting on the tournament, Aspire Academy player Hamad Al Amari highlighted his ambition to boost his PSA world ranking. He said: “I have a tournament in Luxembourg next month and I hope to increase my world ranking. My target is a place within the top 300.”
Describing his involvement, Qatari player n Amjad said: “This tournament is great experience for all the participants. On the one hand, it provides an opportunity to improve our PSA rankings. It also featured great players from countries such as Spain, giving us the chance to compete against other strong talents from elsewhere in the world.”
Spanish player Gonzalo Romero also said: “I’m really impressed by the quality of the facilities, and the standard of players at Aspire Academy. To be able to hold a training camp here and to take part in this PSA Satellite tournament has been really beneficial for us. We’ll take the experience of playing against some of country’s top players at Aspire forward, and I’m sure it will help improve our game.”
Aspire Academy regularly hosts such tournaments to provide its student athletes with the opportunity to participate in world-class competitions and allow them to develop their game through playing against top players from around the world.
