KARACHI: Qualifier Zahir Shah pulled off the biggest upset when he removed top seed Tayyab Aslam straight as the main round of the Rs0.5 million seventh Roshan Khan Open Squash got underway at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Wednesday.

Unseeded Ali Bokhari, qualifier Kashif Asif and wildcard Noman Khan also hogged limelight by upsetting better ranked players in the first round.

Shah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fought tooth and nail to get the better of Aslam of the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) 11-8, 12-10, 11-9 in 42 minutes to sneak into the quarter-finals.

At the outset, the organisers revised the seedings after top seed Farhan Mehboob and the second seed Farhan Zaman stayed away from the event.

Aslam, who was third seed as per ranking list of the Pakistan Squash Federation, succeeded Farhan Mehboob at the top while Ammad Fareed was upgraded to seeded second. The remaining seeded players were also promoted.

Bokhari of Punjab followed the suit while eliminating third seed Asim Khan of the Sui Nothern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7 in 47-minute duel.

Similarly, qualifier Asif of the SNGPL stepped into the last eight when he sent Navy’s Faraz Mohammad packing 13-11, 11-8, 11-2 in 36-minutes.

Wildcard Noman of Sindh also made his mark when he carved out 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 victory over ZTBL”s Waqar Mehboob in just 32-minutes to cruise into the quarters.

The other four players who were through to the last eight were second seed Ammad Fareed, fourth seed Israr Ahmed, Bilal Zakir and Ahsan Ayaz.

Meanwhile, squash legend Jahangir Khan, who is organising the event in the name of his illustrious father, held a dinner in the honour of players and officials at a local hotel on Tuesday.

Results:

First round: Zahir Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Tayyab Aslam (ZTBL) 11-8, 12-10, 11-9; Ahsan Ayaz (PIA) bt Waqas Mehboob (PAF) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4;Kashif Asif (SNGPL) bt Faraz Mohammad (Navy) 13-11, 11-8, 11-2; Ali Bukhari (Punjab) bt Asim Khan (SNGPL) 11-8,11-8, 7-11,11-7; Israr Ahmed (SNGPL) bt Abbas Shaukat (Army) 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11,11-8; Noman Khan (Sindh) bt Waqar Mehboob (ZTBL) 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5; Bilal Zakir (Army) bt Sadam-ul-Haq (Army) 17-15,10-12,11-4,11-6; Amaad Fareed (SNGPL) bt Raees Khan (Army) 15-13,11-5,11-1.

Thursday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals at 1pm

Zahir Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Ahsan Ayaz (PIA); Kashif Asif (SNGPL) v Ali Bukhari (Punjab); Israr Ahmed (SNGPL) v Noman Khan (Sindh); Bilal Zakir (Army) v Amaad Fareed (SNGPL).

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2017