KARACHI, Nov 29: Pakistan No1 Shahid Zaman hit form in the first round of World open squash championship when he defeated French qualifier in full fledged five games in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

According to details, Shahid trounced Renan Lavigne 3-2 in 38 minutes to enter the second round of the prestigious US$175,000 event that has attracted all the top players of international circuit.

The world No 16, unlike his performance in a couple of international events held recently in which he was bucked off in the first rounds, looked confident and held his nerves under tense situations.

He took the first game on tiebreak 11-10 (3-1) following his second game win of 11-4 with some brilliant nicks and drop shots.

The Frenchman bounced back to win the next two games 11-10 (0-2), 11-4.

However, the 16 seed stunned Frenchman to win the decisive game by 11-8 with the help of long rallies.

Meanwhile, world No1 and favourite Thierry Lincou of France cruised into the second round by recording a straight-set victory over Egyptian Wael El Hindi in his first battle.

Results:

Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt Wael El Hindi (EGY) 11-5, 11-9, 11-6; Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Ramy Ashour (EGY) 11-5, 11-2 retired with sore knee; Peter Nicol (ENG) bt Adrian Grant (ENG) 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6; Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-10(3-1), 11-4, 10-11(0-2), 4-11, 11-8; Lee Beachill (ENG) bt Joe Kneipp (AUS) 11-2, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6; John White (SCO) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 14-12; Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Simon Parke (ENG) 6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-2; Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3—Agencies