KARACHI, Sept 27: Pakistan number one Mansoor Zaman is hopeful of a good performance in the next month’s British Open Squash Championships to be held in Nottingham.

In spite of the fact that the world No 15 from Peshawar has got a tough draw in the 16-man tournament, Mansoor is looking forward to an “improved show” in what is one of the most prestigious event on the international squash circuit.

The US$45,000 British Open is scheduled to be held from Oct 1 to 5 at an all-glass showcourt at Nottingham’s famous Royal Albert Hall.

Mansoor is scheduled to meet one of the pre-tournament favourites John White of Scotland. The third seeded White is currently ranked No 3 in the world.

A former Asian junior champion Mansoor admitted that his opponent was ranked much higher than him but added that this handicap will not intimidate him during the first round match.

Mansoor said that he has been preparing hard for the British Open for the last couple of months during which he reached the final of two world-ranking tournaments in Peshawar and Karachi.

The son of former world champion Qamar Zaman said that in international squash there was always a big possibility of upsets so no one can rule out his chances of beating the higher-rated and more experienced White.

The left-handed Mansoor is the only Pakistani players who has been included in the main drawr of the British Open. His younger cousins Shahid Zaman (world No 34) and Farrukh Zaman (No 41) are placed in the qualifying rounds of the event along with another Peshawar player Arshad Iqbal Burki.

The three-day qualifiers will be played at the Nottingham Squash Club from Sept 28 to 30.

Meanwhile, England’s world No 1 Peter Nicol is seeded to retain his title. Britain’s most successful squash player since the legendary Jonah Barrington, Nicol is going for his third title — exactly 30 years after Barrington claimed his then record sixth British Open trophy.

The action will be played out on a spectacular state-of-the-art all-glass court — the first time that such a court has been seen in the East Midlands.

Nicol, who famously ‘defected’ from his country of birth Scotland two years ago to take advantage of England’s World Class Performance Programme initiatives, is enjoying a timely boost of form after a miserable four-month period in which he failed to reach a PSA Tour final.

Last week in Boston, however, the 30-year-old from London fought through a tough field to win the prestigious US Open title for a record fourth time — capping the achievements of former squash greats such as Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.

In his first match in Nottingham since leading England to success in the European Championships in his long-awaited team debut for his new country in May, Nicol faces Scottish champion Martin Heath in what is certain to be an emotionally-charged first round match.

Success against Heath could take him to a quarterfinal against his Commonwealth Games doubles gold-medal-winning partner Lee Beachill, the world No 10 from Yorkshire.

Other leading players competing in the British Open are Australian world champion David Palmer, currently the world No 2 and former world champion Jonathon Power, the fourth seed from Canada.—PPI