Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman rediscovered the form which took him to 11 in the world eight years ago when he upset in-form third-seeded compatriot Danish Atlas Khan in today's quarter-finals of the PSF-CDA Pakistan International Squash Circuit No1, the PSA World Tour Challenger 10 event at Mushaf Squash Complex in the Pakistan capital Islamabad.
The 30-year-old left-hander from Peshawar, now languishing outside the world's top 200, battled for 79 minutes to overcome 17-year-old Danish Atlas Khan - winner of three successive PSA Tour titles over the past six weeks - 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9.
Unseeded Zaman now faces Yasir Butt, the top seed who was also taken the full distance before beating fellow countryman Owais Khan 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8.
There was an upset in the lower half of the draw where unseeded Nasir Iqbal ousted fourth seed Waqas Mehboob 11-5, 11-4, 11-3.
Iqbal, a 16-year-old also from Peshawar, will now face Waqas's brother Waqar Mehboob, the No2 seed who defeated Arshad Iqbal Burki 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Yasir Butt (PAK) v Mansoor Zaman (PAK)
[2] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) v Nasir Iqbal (PAK)
RESULTS: PSA Challenger 10 PSF-CDA Pakistan International Circuit No1, Islamabad, Pakistan
1st round:
[1] Yasir Butt (PAK) bt Syed Ali Shah Bokhari (PAK) 11-9, 5-11, 11-0, 7-11, 11-8 (50m)
Owais Khan (PAK) bt [Q] Bilal Zakir (PAK) 11-6, 15-13, 11-5 (41m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Aurangzeb Mehmund (PAK) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (33m)
[3] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Saqib Yousaf (PAK) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7 (31m)
[4] Waqas Mehboob (PAK) bt Farhan Zaman (PAK) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (26m)
Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt Aqib Hanif (PAK) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (22m)
Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) bt [Q] Mahad Javed (PAK) 11-3, 11-8, 11-3 (24m)
[2] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) bt [Q] Mohammad Shahnawaz (PAK) 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 (24m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Yasir Butt (PAK) bt Owais Khan (PAK) 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11, 11-8 (52m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [3] Danish Atlas Khan (PAK) 12-10, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 (79m)
Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [4] Waqas Mehboob (PAK) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3 (25m)
[2] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) bt Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-3 (46m)