Farhan through to second round

HONG KONG: Farhan Mehboob’s campaign in the 2010 Cathay Pacific Squash Open was off to a winning start as he defeated England’s 13th-seed Adrian Grant in the first round. Pakistan’s number two and world number 36 overpowered Grant 11-9, 13-11, 11-9 as he completed the job in just 44 minutes.

“I was prepared for it. We played in Saudi Arabia last year, he won 3-1 but it was a very good game. I knew I had to focus and play well on each point this time,” said a jubilant Farhan.

“He played too attacking for me in the second, but I still managed to win that one, and I played my best in the third set.”

Farhan now faces three-time finalist Gregory Gaultier from France, who defeated Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly 11-8, 11-3, 11-6.

The first round of the tournament, which featured 32 matches on four courts, saw a more disappointing turn of events, as Pakistan’s top player Aamir Atlas was knocked out of the event by James Willstrop from England. Atlas seemed to be out of form as Willstrop defeated him 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 in only 23 minutes.

Aamir attributed his lack lustre performance to a case of chicken pox that he was suffering from two weeks earlier. “It makes you weak. But I wanted to come and play, partly to avoid a penalty, but also because I like it here so much. I’ll go back and train for the British Grand Prix now.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2010.