Squash: Atlas faces uphill task in Doha

Mehboob crashes out of Qatar Classic Squash Championship.

KARACHI: Aamir Atlas faces a tough challenge as he starts his campaign in the Qatar Classic Squash Championship with an opening-round clash against world number one Nick Matthew today in Doha.

Atlas, the world number 25, is the only Pakistan player left in the $147,000 competition following Farhan Mehboob’s loss to an Egyptian competitor in the qualifying finals yesterday.

The country’s top player, serving a two-year ban imposed by the Pakistan Squash Federation in the aftermath of the team’s failure in the World Championship in Belgium, is determined to give his best against the top seed.

“It’s a tough draw,” Atlas told The Express Tribune ahead of the match. “But I’ll give my best as I’m aiming for an upset.”

Atlas added that he wanted to leave all thoughts of the ban behind him.

“It’s the first international event for me after the ban and I want a positive start.”

Mehboob loses to Abbas

Meanwhile, Mehboob who displayed an impressive performance in his first qualifying match, failed to enter the main round of the event after going down to Mohammed Abbas 12-10, 12-10, 11-7. Abbas completed the comfortable victory in 38 minutes.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2011.