Atlas sent packing out of London

Pakistan's top squash player loses 3-2 in the quarter-finals.

KARACHI:

Pakistan's top-ranked squash player and the tournament's top-seed Amir Atlas crashed out of the Men's Coronation London Open 2011 after losing to Chris Simpson 3-2 in the quarter-finals.

Atlas, banned for two years by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), had beaten New Zealand's Campbell Grayson 3-1 in his first outing but started off on the wrong foot against Simpson, losing the first set 15-13.

Atlas did come back with an 11-7 win but Simpson restored his lead straight away with an 11-9 win. Atlas levelled the tie once again, winning 11-9, but another 11-9 scoreline sealed the result for Simpson.

To add to the ban, Atlas has failed to reach the semi-finals in 10 of the 12 tournaments he has participated in this year.

Earlier, Danish Atlas lost to Australia's Steven Finitsis 3-1 in the second qualifying round while Obaid Jahan was defeated by South Africa's Shaun le Roux 3-0 in the first qualifying round.

"It's been a tough year for me," Atlas told The Express Tribune. "But I'll prove a lot of people wrong next year."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2011.