Pakistan’s rising squash star Noor Zaman produced an impressive performance on Wednesday, defeating defending champion and world No. 4 Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt 3-1 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the PSA Gold Silicon Valley Open in Redwood City, California.

The 22-year-old defeated the tournament’s second seed 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 in a 52-minute encounter at Squash Zone, delivering a major upset in the $143,500 men’s competition.

Speaking after the victory, Noor said he had been mentally and physically prepared for the challenge and believed the time had come to defeat the sport’s leading players.

Ranked among the world’s top 35, Noor had earlier advanced to the last 16 by overcoming American wildcard Bransten Ming 3-1. After dropping the opening game 3-11, the Pakistani fought back strongly to win the next three games 11-5, 11-8, 11-9 in 41 minutes.

Born in Peshawar, Noor is the grandson of former world champion Qamar Zaman and the reigning 2025 U-23 world champion. His recent performances have helped him break into the world’s top 30, while he has also collected five Professional Squash Association (PSA) titles.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Mohammad Ashab Irfan exited the tournament in the round of 16 after suffering a straight-games defeat against Egypt’s fifth seed Mohamed ElShorbagy.

Irfan had reached the last 16 with a convincing 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 victory over Hungary’s Balazs Farkas but was unable to continue his progress against the experienced Egyptian.

The PSA World Tour Gold tournament offers equal prize money to male and female competitors as squash prepares to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.