ISLAMABAD: Former national champion Danish Atlas Khan and seven other players won their first games of qualification round in the Pakistan Squash Circuit-I here at the Mushaf Squash Complex on Tuesday.

On the first day of qualifying rounds, a total of eight matches were decided in which Danish Atlas, Zahir Shah, Bilal Zakir, Noman Khan, Mehran Javed, Haris Iqbal, Mohammad Farhan and Iqtidar Khan emerged victorious.

Upon the completion of final qualifying round on Wednesday, four players will join the main round. The tournament offer prize money of $10,000 for men and $5,000 for women players. All top-ranked local players are featuring in the event.

Farhan Zaman, Asim Khan, Tayyab Aslam, Farhan Mehboob, Israr Ahmed, Khawaja Adil Maqbool, Zeeshan Khan, Umair Zaman, Amaad Fareed, Syed Ali Bukhari, Shoaib Hassan and wild card entrant Abbas Zeb are already in the main draw.

Speaking to Dawn, a Pakistan Squash Federation official said the tournament is recognised by the Professional Squash Association and this international championship is a boon for Pakistani players and all of them are participating in it to improve their international rankings.

Results:

Zahir Shah beat Zeeshan Zeb 11-5, 11-7, 11-5

Bilal Zakir beat Abdul Qadir 11-6, 11-9, 11-3

Noman Khan beat Farhan Hashmi 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8

Danish Atlas beat Mehran Javed 11-3, 11-2, 12-10

Haris Iqbal beat Kashif Asif 11-6, 11-8, 15-13

Muhammad Farhan beat Uzair Shoukat 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9

Iqtidar Khan beat Haseeb Taj 11-5, 11-6, 11-7

Mansoor Zaman beat Abdul Malik 15-13, 13-11, 11-8.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2018