KARACHI, Sept 24: Former world squash champion Jansher Khan, qualified for the main round of the Chief Of Naval Staff International Squash Championship, when he ended the pretensions of Arshad Iqbal in three hard fought games which lasted 39 minutes.

Returning back to the squash circuit after a long layoff, Jansher won the first game 15-8 and had to work up a sweat, taking the next two games 17-15, 15-13.

Also joining Jansher in the qualifying rounds were fellow countrymen Safeerullah Khan, Furrukh Zaman and Egyptian Hisham Mohammad Ashour.

It took Safeerullah 37 minutes to dispose off Shah Nawaz 15-5, 15-8, 15-7, but the Egyptian Hisham had to struggle hard in finally overcoming M. Ilyas in four games 11-15, 15-9, 15-10, 15/9 in 51 minutes.

Furrukh Zaman, also had a tough match on his hands before emerging the victor, overcoming Arshad Iqbal in four games that lasted 54 minutes, 15-6, 15-13, 14-17, 15-10.

Egypt’s Karim Dawaish is top seed in the tournament.

Today’s Fixtures: (top half): Karim Darwaish (Eqypt) vs Ajaz Azmat,1200 hours, John Williams (Australia) vs Safeerullah Khan (Pakistan) 1200 hours; Shahid Zaman (Pakistan) vs Khayal Muhammad (Pakistan) 1245 hours; Weal El Hindi (Egypt) vs Shamsul Islam (Pakistan) 1300 hours.

Bottom half: Egyptian M. Essam A. Hafiz vs Amjad Khan (Pakistan) 1245 hours; Furrukh Zaman (Pakistan) vs Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) 1300 hours; Jansher Khan (Pakistan) vs Omar Elborolcessy (Egypt)1500 hours Hisham Mohammad Ashour (Egypt) Mohammad Abbas (Egypt) 1600 hours.