Maria Toor Pakay on Monday became the first Pakistani woman to qualify for the main rounds of the British Open currently progress at London’s famous O2 Arena.
Maria, who was born in South Waziristan but is now settled in Toronto, defeated England’s Emily Whitlock in an epic encounter in the final qualifying round to make the cut for the main draw.
The left-handed Maria took 46 minutes to oust Whitlock 11/5, 4/11, 8/11, 11/6, 11/7 to earn the right to feature in the main rounds of the prestigious tournament.
Maria is Pakistan’s best-ranked female player. She claimed that honour at just 16. In May 2008, she rose to number 66 in the international rankings — her career-best position to date. Currently she is ranked No 89 in the world.
Last year, she moved to Canada where former world number one Jonathon Power took her under his wings. Since then Maria has shown substantial progress and is now working hard to make it to the top-25 world rankings.
[ via The News International ]
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