Mixed fortunes in squash tournament

KARACHI:

Pakistan experienced mixed fortunes at the opening round of the CIMB Kuala Lumpur (KL) Open Squash Championship which started yesterday in the Malaysian capital.

According to details, Pakistan number one Aamir Atlas won his opening round of the $53,000 event in straight games while Farhan Mehboob fell at the first hurdle.

Atlas, who confronted French qualifier Mathieu Castagnet, overcame early hiccups to book his place in the quarter-finals. The Peshawar-born conceded a 2-8 lead following unforced errors in the first game but soon recovered to win 13-11. He gained rhythm and won the following games 11-2, 11-5 to complete the win in 37 minutes.

On the other hand, Mehboob, facing fourth-seed local player, Azlan Iskandar started off well but retired hurt at the score level at 9-9. Iskander qualified and will now meet Atlas in the quarter-final today.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s top-seeds Karim Darwish and Mohamed El Shorbagy eased past their opponents to seal their last-eight berths.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2011.