KARACHI, Nov 8: Pakistan’s Shahid Zaman and Mansoor Zaman will feature in the main rounds of the World Open squash championship to be played in Hong Kong from Nov 27 to Dec 4.

According to the draws of the US$170000 tournament made available on Tuesday, the Zaman cousins are the only Pakistani players in the main rounds of the tournament.

Pakistan number one Shahid Zaman will meet a qualifier in the opening round of what is the richest event on the international squash calendar. A world number 16, Shahid is then seeded to meet England’s former world number one Peter Nicol in the second round of the event.

Mansoor, a world number 23, will meet Egypt’s former world junior champion Karim Darwish in the opening round.

If he manages to overcome the talented and higher-rated Egyptian, then Mansoor will most likely meet the new British Open champion Anthony Ricketts of Australia.

This year, Hong Kong would be hosting both the men’s and women’s World Opens.

This is the first time that the city, which is an important destination for the world’s top squash players would be hosting both the major events of the international circuit simultaneously.

France’s world number one Thierry Lincou has been top seeded for the men’s event.

The Pakistan Open champion will begin his title hunt with a first round match against Egypt’s Wael el Hindi. Lincou is seeded to meet Canada’s world number two Jonathon Power in the final. A former world champion, Power is the second seed in the event.—PPI