LAHORE, Aug 28: Seasoned players Aaqib Hanif and Yasir Butt entered the second round of the Punjab Open Squash Championship after facing some tough opposition at the Punjab Squash Complex on Tuesday.

Aaqib (Punjab) overpowered an experienced rival Waqar Mehboob (PAF) after 56 minutes of gruelling fight.

Having lost the first game, Aaqib powered his way to clinch the second but after another nail-biting game, Waqar was in the lead once again.

Still the next two games were claimed by Aaqib to complete his win. The scores: 9-11, 15-13, 12-14, 11-8, 11-5.

The match between the former national champion and No 2 seed, Yasir Butt (Wapda) and Nowsherwan (NWFP) lasted 46 minutes. Yasir found himself in hot waters when he lost the first two games, but he came back to claim the match 10-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6.

Meanwhile, Pakistan No 1 Aamir Atlas (Wapda) trounced former national champion Amjad Khan (CAA) 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 11-1.

The results from the women’s round are included below.

RESULTS

Men:

Aamir Atlas (Wapda) bt Amjad Khan (CAA) 11-8, 9-11, 11-2, 11-1; Aaqib Hanif (Pb) bt Waqar Mehboob (PAF) 9-11, 15-13, 12-14, 11-8, 11-5; Majid Khan (CAA) bt Sheikh Saqib (Punjab) 11-7, 11-9, 11-4; Shamsul Islam (Balochistan) bt Safeer Ullah Khan (PAF) 11-9, 11-10, 11-9; Shah Nawaz (Pak Navy) bt Bilal Zaman (CAA) 13-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-7; Shoaib Hassan (Pb) bt Kashif Khan (Sindh) 11-5, 11-9, 7-1 (Retd); Yasir Butt (Wapda) bt Nowsherwan (NWFP) 10-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6; Farhan Mehboob (Wapda) bt Kh. Adil Maqbool (Punjab) 11-5, 11-6, 11-8.

Women:

Muqaddas Ashraf (Wapda) bt Hina Bashir (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Habiba Khan (Sindh) bt Andleeb Younas (Punjab) 9-0, 9-2, 6-9, 9-6; Misbah Rani (Pak Army) bt Roshna Mehboob (Punjab) 9-7, 3-9, 9-5, 6-9, 9-5; Aliya Sarfraz (Wapda) bt Sara Jabeen (Punjab) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Zoya Khalid (Pak Army) bt Maria Rafiq (Punjab) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Saima Shoukat (Wapda) bt Bushra Khalid (Punjab) 9-2, 9-0, 9-1; Mehwish Hanif (Pak Army) bt Sana Shahid (Punjab) 9-1, 9-2, 9-0; Maliha Shahid (Punjab) bt Riffat Khan (Punjab) 5-9, 0-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-3.