KARACHI, Dec 13: Pakistan’s fast rising star Shahid Zaman ousted Malaysian Azlan Iskander while Pakistan number four Aijaz Azmat upset number eight seed Stefan Casteleyn of Belgium in the first round of the Malaysian Open, reports from Kuala Lumpur said Thursday.

Shahid defeated Iskander in four games winning 17-14, 15-7, 4-15, 15-12 in a hard-fought match.

The Pakistani player lost to Iskander in last year’s Asian junior championship final in Chennai, India but got the better of him in the Asian junior team event at the same venue.

On a day of upsets, qualifiers Aijaz Azmat of Pakistan and Raj Nanda of Australia scored five-set victories.

Aijaz stunned eighth seed Stefan Casteleyn of Belgium 15-11, 12-15, 17-15, 3-15, 15-6 while Nanda came from two games down to beat Egyptian Omar Elborolossy, the third seed, 5-15, 11-15, 15-11, 15-6, 15-6.

Unseeded Stephen Meads of England created the other upset of the day, beating fifth seed John Williams of Australia 15-13, 15-5, 15-9.—SADA