Atlas advances in British Open squash

Pakistan’s top-ranked squash player Amir Atlas sails into the second round of the British Open squash championship.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top-ranked squash player Amir Atlas sailed into the second round of the British Open squash championship following an easy victory over Italy’s Amr Swelim of Italy in the opening round.

Amir, who recovered from chicken pox prior to his departure to England, showed no signs of weakness as he quashed the Italian qualifier in straight sets.

The 20-year-old from Peshawar started aggressively and won the first game 11-3. The 12th-seed secured long rallies against Swalim in the second game to claim it 11-5. Atlas faced resistance from his unseeded opponent in the third game but took full advantage of his experience to win it 11-7 to seal the win in 23 minutes.

Amir now faces an uphill task in the second round as he takes on eighth-seed Australian David Palmer.

Meanwhile, Farhan Mehboob, the other Pakistani taking part in the tournament, crashed out of the coveted tournament following a shock loss against the Scottish qualifier Alan Clyne.

The 16th seed left-hander looked out of sorts and was duly dumped out of the tournament 6-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 14-16 in 61 minutes.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2010.