August 27, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 28, 1424

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KARACHI, Aug 26: Pakistan No. 1 Mansoor Zaman will be the country’s sole participant in the 2003 British Open Squash Championship to be held in Nottingham this fall.

Since the draw size of the prestigious tournament has been cut down to 16 from 32 this year, the left-handed Mansoor becomes the only Pakistani ranked high enough to join the British Open field.

But the former Asian junior champion who has slipped from world No. 11 to No. 18 in the international rankings, will have to partcipate in the qualifying rounds of the US$45,000 tournament.

According to the rules of the tournament chalked out by the event’s organisers, the top 12 players of the world will get a direct entry in the main rounds of the tournament to be played from Oct 1 to 5 on an all-glass showcourt at Nottingham’s Albert Hall.

For the other four main round entries available, a two-day qualifying round will be held at the Nottingham Squash Club on Sept 29 and 30. Diverting away from the usual practice of holding a pre-qualfying rounds, the British Open organisers will just hold the two-day qualifiers and the main rounds.

The remaining top 16 players, after taking the 12 main round entries, will be accepted in the qualifying rounds. Presently Mansoor is the only Pakistani player in the international squash rankings who will make it to the qualifiers.

Pakistanis have won the British Open for a record 30 times during the last 50 years with Jahangir Khan holding the record of winning the coveted title for a record ten consecutive years. in the final thus ending Pakistan’s supremacy in the tournament.

During the last four years, no Pakistani player has managed to go beyond the second round of the tournament.—PPI