September 06, 2007	Thursday	Sha'aban 23, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 5: Two seeded players were knocked out on the opening day of the eighth Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) International Squash Championship at the PN Roshan-Jahangir Squash Complex on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s qualifier Yasir Butt created quite a stir when he stunned fourth seed Liam Kenny of Ireland in straight sets to advance into the quarter-finals.

Playing one of the best matches of his career, the world No 69 Yasir took 36 minutes to overcome the 34th-ranked Kenny 11-10, 11-7, 11-8.

Yasir is drawn to meet Australia’s 11th seed Bradley Hindle, who pulled off another surprise when he humbled eighth seed Amr Swelim from Egypt, 11-7, 11-10, 11-6, in a 37-minute duel.

Sixth seed Shahid Zaman survived a scare when he recovered from two sets down to beat the lone wildcard entrant, Shah Nawaz, in a five-set thriller.

Luck was not on Shah Nawaz’s side who, after taking two sets, was tied 7-7 all in the third when he committed an error only to see the match slip from his hands.

The world No 48 Shahid, who won the 51-minute all-Pakistan battle, 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, now meets the world No 11 and top seed Karim Darwish.

The Egyptian was quick to see off 10th seed Australian Tony James, 11-5, 11-5, 11-3, in just 26 minutes.

Second seed Mansoor Zaman demolished the qualifier Waqar Mehboob, 11-4, 11-8, 11-5, in 20 minutes.

The title has eluded Mansoor on three occasions when he lost after making the final grade. He now faces The Netherlands’ Dylan Bennet, who accounted for Egypt’s Sherif Kemel 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

Third seed Aamir Atlas Khan also propelled in the last eight when his opponent qualifier M. Shoaib Hassan retired after trailing 0-6 in the second set. Aamir had won the opener 11-5.

Aamir will be up against compatriot Farhan Mehboob, who got the better of qualifier Shamsul Islam Khan, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-3.

The four-day championship was inaugurated by Commander Karachi, Rear Admiral Bakhtiar Mohsin.

Results:

First round: Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Tony James (Aus) 11-5, 11-5, 11-3; Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt M. Shah Nawaz (Pak) 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6; Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Liam Kenny (Irl) 11-10, 11-7, 11-8; Bradley Hindle (Aus) bt Amr Swelim (Egy) 11-7, 11-10, 11-6; Farhan Mahboob (Pak) bt Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 11-3; Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt M. Shoaib Hassan (Pak) 11-5, 6-0 (retd); Dylan Bennet (Ned) bt Sherif Kamel (Egy) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7; Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Waqar Mehboob (Pak) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5.

Thursday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals (matches starts at 1:00pm): Dylan Bennet (Ned) v Mansoor Zaman (Pak); Farhan Mehboob (Pak) v Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak); Yasir Butt (Pak) v Bradley Hindle (Aus); Karim Darwish (Egy) v Shahid Zaman (Pak).