September 22, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 09, 1428

MANCHESTER, Sept 21: World number one Amr Shabana made a successful start to his bid to win the British Open title here on Thursday.

The charismatic top seed won 11-7, 11-7, 11-8 against David Bianchetti, the Italian number one.

Shabana looked quite well focused even though he claimed he found that difficult against an opponent who is a good friend, only once briefly trailing, at 4-6 in the second game.

Shabana improved his feel for a slightly idiosyncratic glass show court, something which may be crucial when he takes on Lee Beachill the former world number one from England.

“It can be a punishing court,” he said. “If you don’t hit the ball perfectly it doesn’t cling to the wall, but comes out from it and stops. So it can be really difficult.”However it was Bianchetti who found it more difficult, shrieking “no, no, no” at the referee when the official gave a decision which put him match point down at 8-10 in the third game.

When Shabana converted this at the first attempt with a nicely judged length which set up a winning drop, Bianchetti hurled his racket ceilingwards – and found Shabana helping him catch it.

Shabana next plays Lee Beachill, the former world number one from England.

Meanwhile, all the three Pakistan players – Aamir Atlas Khan, Mansoor Zaman, Farhan Mehboob – lost their opening-round matches in the main draw of the British Open.

World No. 9 Egyptian Karim Darwish defeated Aamir 10-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8 in 46 minutes, France’s world No. 4 Thierry Lincou knocked out a sloppy Mansoor 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 in 26 minutes while Farhan was outclassed by England’s Peter Barker 11-5, 11-5, 11-6 in 22 minutes.

France’s Gregory Gaultier, the World Open runner-up from Aix-en-Provence, produced a flash of brilliance to pull back from 1-6 down in the third game to win 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 against Jonathan Kemp, an English qualifier.

Thursday’s results:

Men (first round): Wael EL Hindi (EGY x7) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7; Peter Barker (ENG x12) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; Adrian Grant (ENG x13) bt Alister Walker (ENG) 11-13, 11-7, 11-1, 11-8; Gregory Gaultier (FRA x3) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 11-4, 11-8; Nick Matthew (ENG x6) bt Daryl Selby (ENG) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8; Amr Shabana (EGY x1) bt David Bianchetti (ITA) 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8; Azlan Iskandar (MAS x14) bt Borja Golan (ESP) 12-10, 11-4, 3-11, 11-7; Lee Beachill (ENG x10) bt Stacey Ross (ENG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7; Stewart Boswell (AUS x8) bt Saurav Ghosal (IND) 11-8, 11-3, 11-9; Mohammed Abbas (EGY x11) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-4, 6-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8; Ong Beng Hee (MAS x16) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9; Thierry Lincou (FRA x4) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Karim Darwish (EGY x) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 10-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; James Willstrop (ENG x5) bt John Rooney (IRL) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4; David Palmer (AUS x2) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4; Olli Tuominen (FIN x15) bt Andy Whipp (ENG) 11-8, 12-10, 11-5. –Agencies