MANCHESTER Pakistan's hopeful Farhan Mehboob and Aamir Atlas Khan battled their way into the second round of the World Open Squash Championships here at the National Squash Centre but compatriots Shahid Zaman and Mansoor Zaman were both knocked out.
Aamir was taken the full distance by his opponent from France Mathieu Castagnet and spent 76 minutes on court before he eventually emerged a 11-5,9-11,11-9,10-12 and 11-7 winner.
In comparison, Farhan was on court for 51 minutes but dropped the opening game against another Frenchman Julien Balbo before finding his rhythm to post 9-11,11-1,11-9,11-7 victory and advanced into the next round.
Both now face strong opponents in the next round with Aamir competing against the seventh seed Karim Darwish of Egypt and Farhan up against the 15th seed Dutchman Laurens Jan Anjema.
Leading squash players from more than 30 countries are competing in the championship which is the first ever joint staging of both the Men's and Women's World Open in the UK.
Nick Matthew, the world No 7 from Sheffield, opened the championship on the all-glass show court. The former British Open champion, playing on home soil for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in January, eased to an 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 victory over Pakistan qualifier Shahid Zaman in 34 minutes.
Mansoor Zaman also met a similar fate at the hands of John White of Scotland who took a mere 30 minutes for his 13-11, 11-6, 11-2 victory.
Mansoor fought well in the opening game but ran out of steam and ideas in the next two to go down tamely.
Event favourite Amr Shabana overcame a shaky start to beat German qualifier Simon Rosner 6-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-5.
The defending champion from Egypt will now face Spanish number one Borja Golan for a place in the last sixteen.
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