KARACHI, Dec 6: Former Pakistan number one Shahid Zaman will meet fourth seed Thierry Lincou of France in the opening round of the 2003 Bank Al-Falah World Open Squash Championship to be held in Lahore from Dec 14 to 21.

According to the new draws of the US$170,000 tournament revised after the pull-out of former world champion Jonathon Power yesterday (Friday), Lincou who is ranked number five in the world, has taken Power’s place as the fourth seed.

Canada Power, the 1998 World Open champion, has pulled out of the World Open in Lahore, due to a broken finger he sustained in this week’s Qatar Classic in Doha.

According to the earlier draws, Power was to start his title campaign with a first round match against former Pakistan champion Shahid Zaman, currently ranked number three in the national rankings.

Power was rated as one of the pre-tournament favourites following his victory in the Candian Classic last month as he has been in good form during most of this season.

Power has been plagued by forced withdrawals from tournaments, most notably in last year’s World Open semifinal when an accidental clash with David Palmer’s racket left the Canadian with a cut to the eye which forced him to concede.

Power was seeded four, so the draw has been adjusted with Lincou moving up to fourth seed behind defending world champion David Palmer of Australia, world number two John White of Scotland and England’s Peter Nicol, the reigning world number one.

Nicol is the top seed in the 64-man first round draw of the World Open to be played in a portable glass showcourt that has been installed in the Old Airport building in Lahore. The opening round of the tournament will be played over two days on Dec 14 and 15.—PPI