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KARACHI Pakistan squash players Aamir Atlas Khan and Farhan Mehboob secured berths in the second round of Saudi International Squash — the $250,000 PSA World Tour Super Series Championship —the final major event of the year at the Sunset Beach in Al-Khobar.
Seeded 15th in the event, Aamir Atlas easily toppled Indian qualifier Saurav Ghosal recording a formidable 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 win in 30 minutes.
Nephew of squash legend Jansher Khan, Aamir will now meet qualifier Joey Barrington of England, who eased into the second round after his first round second seeded opponent Amr Shabana retired from the match because of the hamstring injury he picked up at the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters in India last week.
Joey was leading the scoreline 11-8, 4-2 when Amr retired. Jansher's other nephew Farhan Mehboob also moved into the second round in style, taking only 18 minutes to dispatch Italian Stephane Galifi 11-5, 11-0, 11-5.
Meanwhile, top seed Ramy Ashour, the 22-year-old Egyptian who arrived in Saudi Arabia fresh from his PSA Masters victory in Mumbai, overcame the same first round opponent he encountered in India — his older brother Hisham Mohammad Ashour.
Third seed Nick Matthew, runner-up in Mumbai, also progressed to the next round - but needed four games to overcome Egyptian qualifier Omar Mosaad 11-6, 11-2, 8-11, 11-2 in 45 minutes.
The England number one will now face national rival James Willstrop after the ninth seed enjoyed a straightforward 11-7, 11-5, 11-3 win in 26 minutes over unseeded Finn Olli Tuominen.—PPI
