The inaugural edition of the U23 World Squash Championships got off to a rip-roaring start at DHA Creek Club as 20 top quality matches wowed the Karachi crowd.

The tournament, which will see the winners claim the lions share of a $60,000USD prize pot and qualify automatically for this years PSA World Championships, is taking place in Pakistan from 6-10 April.

In the match of the day, Malaysian 3/4 seed Ameeshenraj Chandaran was pushed to the limit by unseeded Pakistani Muhammad Ammad in a 71-minute epic on the glass court.

Ammad, 19, thrived in front of the assembled squash royalty including Jahangir Khan and Qamar Zaman, taking a surprise lead against the World No.89 with a thrilling 12-10 win.

Chandaran fired back with an 11-7 win only for Ammad to dig in to reclaim the lead 11-9 in game three.

Ammad, whose highest World Ranking to date was 336 in 2023, was briefly in the ascendency in game four as he sensed a famous upset, only for Chandaran to finally find his rhythm, drawing level once again with an 11-9 win of his own.

With the wind in his sails, Chandaran pushed on and the 21-year-old closed out after a nervous video referee decision on match ball 11-8 to set up a second round clash with Hong Kong, Chinas Matthew Lam.

There was so much on the line and Ammad put up a very good fight.  Ive got juice left in me, but Im going to take it one game at a time, Chandaran said afterwards.

Ammad was one of six home representatives in action today. In the womens draw, Amna Fayyaz and Sana Bahadar battled bravely before going down in close matches against Kurumi Takahashi and Tamara Holzbauerová, while Mariam Malik was beaten in straight games by Noa Romero Blazquez.

In the mens event, the hosts secured two wins via Noor Zaman and Hamza Khan. Noor Zaman grandson of Pakistan great Qamar Zaman fought back from a game down to beat Kuwaits Hussain Alzaatari, while Khan World Junior Champion in 2023 cruised past Radu Stefan Pena of Romania.

Click here to view all the results from round one of the 2025 U23 World Squash Championship.