01 March 2005	Tuesday	19 Muharram 1426

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: A trio of Pakistani players, among them Farrukh Zaman, qualified for the main round of the $25,000 Chief of the Army Staff squash championship on Monday.

While Farrukh edged Khalid Atlas Khan 11-10, 11-10, 11-8 in just over half an hour, the other two home players who qualified were Amir Atlas Khan and Farhan Mahboob.

Amir scored a 11-10, 11-9, 11-10 victory over Safeerullah Khan in 32 minutes with Farhan achieving a 11-4, 10-11, 11-6 win against Hungary's Mark Krajesak who had to retire hurt.

The fourth player to check into the main round was India's Ritwik Bhattacharia whose victim was Pakistan's Khawaja Adil Maqbool whom he beat 11-3, 7-11, 11-10, 11-10. With the main round beginning on Tuesday, the organisers Punjab Squash Association did not reveal the pairings for the main round much to the annoyance of the journalists.

With the Punjab squash officials being careless despite having the services of a Director Media, the PSF continued to send in incomplete information to media men.

As has now happened for the umpteenth time, secretary of PSF Wng Cdr Zulfiqar Ahmed dispatched a press release on Monday which said that Pakistan had won individual gold medals in the under-13 and under-15 events at the Qatar International Championship. Thankfully while the names of the successful players were given, no mention was made of the scores.