LAHORE, March 18: Adeel Hanif (Punjab) beat Alam Zeb (NWFP) as 16 matches were played on the first day of two-day pre-qualifying round of the Pakistan Open Squash Tournament held at the Punjab Squash Complex and Lahore Gymkhana courts Monday.

Adeel Hanif struggled for 63 minutes to beat the spirited Alam Zeb with a scoreline of 15-13, 9-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12.

Hanif won the first game 15-13. But he went down 1-2 by losing the next two games 9-15, 11-15. Hanif braced the game and from there onwards recovered himself, winning 15-13, 15-12.

In other keenly contested matches, Yasir Butt defeated Salahuddin in all-Punjab affair 15-10, 12-15, 17-14, 15-4.

Upcoming Nasim Tahkali (NWFP) also faced tough competition before disposing off Fahad Zaman (NWFP) 15-9, 15-10, 16-17, 15-4.

Shahab Hussain (Balochistan) eliminated the challenge from Osama Khan (Sindh) in another four-game contest which took 42 minutes to produce the result. Shahab Hussain mustered a win with score line of 15-10, 15-5, 14-15, 15-6.

Results:

Muhammad Ilyas (Punjab) bt Wakeel Khan (NWFP) 15-8, 15-9, 15-9. Adeel Hanif (Punjab), Alam Zeb (NWFP) 15-13, 9-15, 11-15, 15- 13, 15-12; Yasir Butt (Punjab) bt Salahuddin (Punjab 15-10, 12-15, 17-14, 15-4; Mamoon Rashid (NWFP) bt Sheroze Khan (Sindh) 17-16, 15-5, 15- 4; Khayal Muhammad (Punjab) bt Rehmatullah (Sindh) 15-5, 15-2, 15-3; Shahab Husain (Balochistan) bt Osama Khan (Sindh) 15-10, 15-5, 14-15, 15-6; Shah Nawaz (Punjab) bt Junaid (Punjab) 15-7, 15-4, 15-8; Waseem Shad (NWFP) got walk over against Aqib Hanif (Punjab); Asghar Khan (Punjab) bt Waqas Salahuddin (Punjab) 15-5, 15-6, 15-5; Khalid Atlas (NWFP) bt Atique Butt (Punjab) 15-7, 15-2, 15-2; Karamatullah (Sindh) bt Khurram Shahzad (Punjab) 15-8, 15-9, 15-5; Naveed Atlas (NWFP) bt Faisal Sarwar (Punjab) 15-4, 15-3, 15- 6; Farhan Mehboob (NWFP) bt Asad Riaz (Sindh) 15-9, 15-9, 14- 15, 15-3; Saeed Hasan (Punjab) bt Ikramullah (Punjab) 15-2, 15-7, 15-2; Munawar Zaman (NWFP) bt Ashfaq Husain (Sindh) 15-11, 15-9, 15-10; Nasim Tahkali (NWFP) bt Fahad Zaman (NWFP) 15-9, 15-10, 16- 17, 15-14.