Qatar’s Abdulla al-Tamimi finished runner-up at the 23rd Asian Individual Squash Championship held in Kuching, Malaysia, reaffirming his place among Asia’s top players. Following an exceptional week that saw a dominant performance, al-Tamimi, ranked 23rd in the world, set up a final with Hong Kong’s Alex Lau losing 12-14, 11-13, 9-11 in the title clash.
Al-Tamimi entered the tournament as the top seed and made a commanding start in the Round of 32 where he sealed a straight-game win over Kuwait’s Jassim Alghareeb (11-3, 11-0, 11-2). He then booked a last-eight berth with another dominant win, this time over South Korea’s Jooyoung Na (11-6, 11-10, 11-3). In the quarterfinals, al -Tamimi defeated Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj Chandaran 11-7, 11-9, 11-3. He then carried that momentum into the semi-finals, where he met Hong Kong’s Henry Leung , ranked 49th in the world. Al-Tamimi was tested to his limits in the thrilling semi-final clash, but the Qatari star prevailed 11-7, 12-10, 11-4 to advance to book a title clash with Leung’s compatriot Lau, who had made it to the final with a 3-1 win over India’s Velanvan Senthilkumar (11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-6).
