Atlas moves into second round

Tough rivals await Pakistani duo in World Open.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top-ranked squash player Aamir Atlas Khan defeated Australia’s Steve Finitsis 3-0 to cruise into the second round of the World Open 2010 in Dammam.

Atlas only took 30 minutes to cruise past the unseeded Australian. He took the first set 11-5 but faced resistance from Finitsis in the second set which the Pakistani still managed to win 12-10. From there onwards, Atlas needed just seven minutes to finish the task in the third set, winning it 11-5 to set up a clash with second-seed Ramy Ashour of Egypt tomorrow.

“It will be a tough match,” Atlas told The Express Tribune. “Ramy is very strong and I can’t use the same tactics I applied against Steve. The way I exhausted Steve on the court, I can’t do that with Ramy. He’s a very clever guy. As far as I know it’s going to be a battle of nerves and who lasts longer. But I feel confident that I can defeat him this time.”

Fahan Mehboob also advanced to the second round on Thursday where he will face fifth-seed Gregory Gaultier. Labelling it a tough match, Mehboob said that he will study Gaultier’s moves, as the French is known to be merciless towards his opponents.

“It’s a tough draw for both me and Aamir,” said Mehboob. “He has to go against Ramy and I have to face Gaultier, so we will do our best and try to win the matches. But at the back of our minds we know that our opponents are a little better than us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2010.