December 9, 2005	Friday	Ziqa’ad 6, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 8: Pakistan on Thursday made a winning start to the World Team Squash Championship through Mansoor Zaman and Farhan Mahboob defeating Scotland 2-1 at the Roshan Khan Complex.

It was a fitting opening for the home team, just what coach Jamshed Gul had wanted.

“The win today will boost the boys’ confidence and I hope they continue in the same manner.”

Young Farhan knocked out Alan Kevin 9-6, 9-1, 9-2 but Shahid Zaman went down to world No 9 John White 6-9, 6-9, 8-10 in the second match. It was then left to Mansoor to seal victory who outplayed Stuart Crawford 9-2, 9-2, 9-1.

Pakistan now play Spain on Friday, a clash which Jamshed said would not be much of a problem. But it is the match against 6th seeds Malaysia that is bound to be a difficult one in Group F.

The Malaysians beat Spain 2-1 with their top players M. Azlan Iskander and Ong Beng Hee winning their respective matches.

Top seeds England started off the 22-team championship blanking Kuwait 3-0 through Nick Matthews, James Willstorp and Lee Beachill.

Egypt, seeded 2 routed Iran 3-0, their players Wael El Hindi, Karim Darwish and Muhammed Abbas giving a squash lesson to their hapless opponents.

Darwish did not even drop a single point in downing Majid Rohani 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 while Wael El Hindi gave away only one in his match against Hassan Jafari.

Abbas too was ruthless, blowing Ahmed Abadi away 9-1, 9-0, 9-2.

Results:

Pakistan bt Scotland 2-1 (Farhan Mahboob bt Alan Kevin Clyne 9-6, 9-1, 9-2; Shahid Zaman lost to John White 6-9, 6-9, 8- 10, Mansoor Zaman bt Stuart Crawford 9-2, 9-2, 9-1) Australia bt USA 3-0 (Joseph Knipp bt Bean River 9-0, 9-0, 9-3, Anthony Ricketts bt Preston Quick 9-6, 9-3, 9-7, Boswell bt Julian Illingworth 9-1, 9-1, 9-0) England bt Kuwait 3-0 (Nick Matthews bt Mohammad Hajeyah 9-3, 9- 3, 9-3, James Willstorp bt Abdullah al Mezayin 9-4, 9-2, 9-2, Lee Beachill bt Badar al Hussain 9-6, 9-3, 9-3) Canada bt Hong Kong 3-0 (Matthew Gluffe bt Roger Ngan 9-6, 9-5, 9-7, Graham Ryding bt Wong Wai Hang 9-5, 9-0, 9-5, Shahier Razik bt Dick Lau 9-2, 9-5, 9-2) Netherlands bt Finland 2-1 (Marks Revis lost to Hameed 9-10, 0-9, 6-9, Lauren Jan Anjema bt Tuominen 9-7, 4-9, 9-1, 6-9, 9-3, Byan Bennet bt Matias 9-0, 9-3, 9-6) Egypt bt Iran 3-0 (Wael El Hindi bt Hassan Jafari 9-0, 9-0, 9-1, Karim Darwish bt Majid Rohani 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, Muhammed Abbas bt Ahmed Abadi 9-1, 9-0, 9-2) Malaysia bt Spain 2-1 (Timothy Owen Arnold lost to David Vidal Villamide 6-9, 1-9, 9-3, 10-8, 2-9, M. Azlan Iskander bt Borges Golan 3-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-1, Ong Beng Hee bt Lago Cornes 9-0, 9-5, 9-0) South Africa bt Austria 3-0 (Rowan Ricaroo Smith bt Andreas 9-0, 9-1, 9-1, Rodney Dubach bt Aqeel Rehman 9-0, 9-0, 9-1, Mike Tootik bt Jakob Dirnberger 9-4, 9-3, 9-5).

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