KARACHI, Aug 27: Pakistan’s Yasir Butt and Arshad Iqbal Burki will feature in the main rounds of the International Squash Championship to be held in Kolkata next month. According to the details of the world ranking tournament made available on Saturday, both Yasir and Arshad are unseeded in the US$20,000 event and are placed in the lower half of the 16-man draw.

Lahore’s Yasir, presently placed at a career-high number 48 in the international rankings, will meet England’s sixth seed Alister Walker in the opening round of the tournament to be played from Sept 7 to 10.

If Yasir manages to beat the higher-rated Walker, he would most likely face Canada’s third seed Shahier Razik in the quarterfinals.

Peshawar’s Arshad Iqbal Burki has been drawn against second seeded Australia’s Cameron Pilley in the opening rounds.

Two more Pakistani players — Khayal Mohammad and Basit Ashfaq — will take part in the two-day qualifying rounds of the tournament to be played on Sept 5-6.

Malaysia’s Muhammad Azlan Iskander is the top seed in the Kolkata International, the richest world ranking event ever to be held in India. Azlan will meet India’s Saurav Ghausal in the opening rounds. Ghausal is the only Indian player featuring directly in the main round draw.—PPI