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| November 24, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 21, 1426 |
Mansoor beaten in opening round
KARACHI, Nov 23: Pakistan number two Mansoor Zaman failed to put up any worthwhile resistance against Scotland’s John White going down in straight games in the opening rounds of the Qatar Classic squash in Doha on Tuesday.
Mansoor, one of the only two Pakistani players in the main rounds, was beaten in just 25 minutes by White, the 11th seed in the US$125,000 competition.
White, a former world number two, won the match 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.
The left handed Mansoor, ranked No.23 in the world, led 9-6 in the opening game but made a series of unforced errors as White took the game.
The Scot then took control of the proceedings and completely outclassed Mansoor in the next two games to enter the second round.
Mansoor was the fifth Pakistani player to lose in this year’s Qatar Classic at the first hurdle. Earlier, four of his compatriots Yasir Butt, Farhan Mehboob, Aamir Atlas Khan and Abdul Rehman were knocked out of the first qualifying rounds.
Now Pakistan number one Shahid Zaman is the only Pakistani left in the event besides Carla Khan. The world number 18 from Quetta will meet Italian qualifier David Bianchetti in his first round match on Thursday.
Pakistan number one Carla Khan will meet Hong Kong’s Rebecca Chiu in the opening rounds of the Qatar Classic women’s squash in Doha on Thursday.
According to the draws of the championship, Carla is unseeded in the event while Chiu is seeded 15th.
Carla, a world number 23, has won a world ranking competition in Pakistan this season and also claimed a silver medal in the Women’s Islamic Games in Tehran. However, her recent performance has been quite unimpressive.
World number one Thierry Lincou needed four games to beat Dutch qualifier Laurens Jans Anjema in the opening round.
Anjema gave the top seeded Lincou a really tough time before going down in the 57-minute encounter.
In what was the only upset of the opening day’s play Malaysia’s Asian champion Ong Beng Hee toppled Canada’s 14th seed Graham Ryding in a 60-minute encounter.—PPI
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