KARACHI:
Having just served out his six-month ban, Pakistan number one Amir Atlas won his first match on his return for the country to cruise into the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open Squash Championship.
Atlas, who was banned after violating the Pakistan Squash Federation code of conduct, earned a hard-fought win over England’s Chris Ryder. According to details made available, Atlas’ first-round win at the $50,000 event lasted the full five games.
The Asian Games silver medallist won the first game 11-7 before Ryder struck back to win the second 11-3. The next two games met a similar result before the Pakistani sealed the finish with a 11-7 in the decider.
The unseeded Pakistan player will face Malaysia’s third-seed Azlan Iskander in the last-eight match today.
Mehboob crashes out
Pakistan number two Farhan Mehboob was to meet qualifier Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt in the first-round. Mehboob lost 11-9, 6-11, 16-18, 11-9, 9-11 in a match lasting almost two hours. Earlier, another Pakistan player Yasir Butt was beaten by a local player Nafizan Mohammad Adnan in the qualifying stages of the tournament.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2011.
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