KARACHI: Two seeded players, both from Pakistan, fell prey to unseeded foreigners as their compatriot and second seed Asim Khan survived a scare on the way to making it to the quarter-finals in the 13th CNS International Squash Cham­p­ionship at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squ­ash Complex on Friday.

Unseeded Tsz Kuwn Lau of Hong Kong removed sixth seed Ahsan Ayaz 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 in 36 minutes to continue his winning streak. He had prevailed 11-3, 11-7, 11-5 over Iran’s Navid Maleksabet in the first round match on Thursday.

Similarly, with a straight win over wildcard Owais Ras­h­eed under his belt, Egyptian Youssef Ibrahim sho­cked eighth seed Israr Ahmed 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 in 26 minutes.

Asim won against Iran’s Sajad Zareian Jahromi but was stretched to limits before justifying his billing. He stor­med back from two games down to post 12-14, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 victory in an agonising 52-minute duel. This was the only match of the day that went to full distance.

It may be mentioned that Asim had defeated Sajjad in the second round of DHA Cup also.

Top seed Arturo Salazar (Mexico), third seed Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan), fourth seed Ammar Altamimi (Kuw­ait), fifth seed Roi Soares (Portugal) and seventh seed Shahjahan Khan chalked up victories over their opponents to advance into the last eight.

Salazar disposed of Tang Ming Hong (Hong Kong) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5 in 21 minutes while Farhan carved out 11-6, 11-9, 11-7 victory over Henry Leung, also from Hong Kong, in 25 minutes.

Altamimi got the better of Pakistan’s Amaad Fareed 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 in 23 minutes to set a last-8 clash with Shahjahan who beat Farhan Zaman 15-13, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 in 40 minutes.

Soares, meanwhile, sent Pakistan’s Zahir Shah packing 11-1, 11-8, 12-10 in 21 minutes.

Results:

Second round: Arturo Salazar (Mexico) bt Tang Ming Hong (Hong Kong) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5; Youssef Ibrahim (Egypt) bt Israr Ahmed (Pakistan) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6; Shahjahan Khan (Pakistan) bt Farhan Zaman (Pakistan) 15-13, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6; Ammar Altamimi (Kuwait) bt Amaad Fareed (Pakistan) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6; Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan) bt Henry Leung (Hong Kong) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7; Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) bt Ahsan Ayaz (Pakistan) 11-6, 12-10, 11-8; Rui Soares (Portugal) bt Zahir Shah (Pakistan) 11-1, 11-8, 12-10; Asim Khan (Pakistan) bt Sajad Zareian Jahromi (Iran) 12-14, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Quarter-finals: Arturo Salazar (Mexico) vs Youssef Ibrahim (Egypt) at 2pm; Shahjahan Khan (Pakistan) vs Ammar Altamimi (Kuwait) at 2.45pm; Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan) vs Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) at 3.30pm; Rui Soares (Portugal) vs Asim Khan (Pakistan) at 4.15pm.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018