March 22, 2002	Friday	Muharram 7, 1423

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LAHORE, March 21: Local boys Mohammad Ilyas, Aijaz Azmat and Mansoor Zaman qualified for the main round of the 19th Pakistan Open after the end of two-day qualifying round at the Punjab Squash Complex Thursday.

In a stunning upset, world No 165 Mohammad Ilyas (Pakistan) toppled Pakistan’s top ranked player Shahid Zaman 15-14 15-14 5-15 15-12 in a 61-minute match.

In an another surprise result, world number 66 Aijaz Azmat outplayed Egypt’s world number 41 Shahier Razik 15-8 12-15 15-10 15-12 in 71 minutes. Mansoor Zaman turned out to be fitter and stronger than his Egytian rival Essam A.Hafiz who threw in the towel while trailing 2-1 and 13-5 in the fourth game.

Mansoor won 15-6 15-11 11-15 13-5.

Ilyas, in the first game, had four game points when he led 14-10. But Shahid capitalized from a couple of unforced errors from Ilyas aided by a couple of winners to draw level at 14-all before Ilyas found the winner to go 1-0 ahead.

In the second game, Ilyas was 14-11 ahead before Shahid drew level at 14-all. But like the first game, Ilyas produced an excellent winner to seal the game and take a commanding 2-0 lead.

Shahid shows glimpses of his brilliance in the third game as Ilyas turned erratic. Shahid conceded just five points to win the third game at 15-5 and reduce the deficit 1-2.

Shahid’s aggressive and positive approach helped him surge to a 12-8 lead in the fourth game. But Ilyas came back roaring at him with a classic allround display to win seven points in a trot to shut the door on Shahid.

Australia’s world number 47 Dan Jenson faced no difficulty in toppling compatriot John Williams, world number 28, 15-9 15-6 15-4 in just 35 minutes.

Results:

Dan Jenson (Australia) bt John Williams (Australia) 15-9 15-6 15-4; Wael El Hindi (Egypt) bt Lars Harms (Sui) 15-10 15-7 15-11; Amr Shabana (Egypt) bt Yasir Butt (Pakistan) 15-7 15-6 15-11; Aijaz Azmat (Pakistan) bt Shahier Razik (Egypt) 15-8 12-15 15-10 15-12; Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) bt Essam A.Hafiz 15-6 9-15 15-11 13-5 (retired); Muhammad Ilyas (Pakistan) bt Shahid Zaman (Pakistan) 15-14 15-14 5-15 15-12; Mohammad Azlan (Malaysia) bt Adrian Grant (England) 17-16 15-6 15-1; Renan Lavinge (France) bt Shams-ul-Islam (Pakistan) 15-6 15-5 15-3.