Maria Toor seals her British Open berth

Female squash player the only Pakistani in the event.

KARACHI: Maria Toor Pakay will be the only Pakistani in the British Open after she fought through the qualifying rounds to seal her place in the main event yesterday.

Maria beat Lucie Fialova of the Czech Republic 11-6, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3 and 11-4 in the first qualifying round before getting the better of Emily Whitlock 11-5, 4-11, 8-11, 11-6 and 11-7 in the final qualifying round. Earlier, Pakistan’s top squash player Amir Atlas Khan had to withdraw due to illness.

Atlas was due to take part in the qualifiers but fever forced him to change his decision, much to his disappointment.

“The British Open is one of the biggest tournaments in squash so to miss out in it is devastating for me,” Atlas told The Express Tribune from Peshawar. “Obviously, health matters more than anything for me because I can’t play if I am not fit.”

Atlas said that the anti-biotic treatment made his body weaker and he will be resting for a few days to get back to full fitness. He is currently serving a two-year ban from the Pakistan Squash Federation but was training hard for the event for the last two weeks.

“I wanted to win the event but hopefully I’ll come back as a stronger player because a British Open title matters a lot to me.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2012.