Bank Al-Falah Pakistan Open
Lahore, 22-27 Mar, $105k

• Draw and Results    
  Qualifying results
   
• Previous winners
   
• Tournament news from PAKSQUASH.com

• FINAL:

[3] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [1] Peter Nicol (Eng)
15/10, 13/15, 15/10, 15/14  87m

Power Controls Nicol To Clinch Title
In the climax of the first international sporting event to be held in Pakistan since September 11th, Canada's Jonathon Power upset England's world No1 Peter Nicol in 87 minutes to win the $105,000 Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open at the Fortress Stadium in Lahore.

It was the mercurial Canadian's second successive victory over his great rival - and brought the career head-to-head tally between the two to 15-13 in Nicol's favour.

Power became only the second foreigner in the 22 years of the championship to win the title - and did so in front of a packed audience which included Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and a host of former champions including Jansher Khan, Qamar Zaman, Mohibullah Khan and the ten-times British Open and Pakistan Open champion Jahangir Khan.

"It was a tough final for me indeed. But I think Peter under-estimated me. The win will boost my morale for the next big event the British Open Championship" Power told Dawn after the final. "Yes! Jonathan put up a good game to beat me, but I will try to settle the score in the British Open Championship", replied Nicol.

Power, the 27-year-old world No3 from Montreal, also upstaged the Australian world No2 and British Open champion David Palmer to reach the final - and is now unbeaten since early January when he lost to Nicol in the US Open final in Boston. Nicol and Power are set to renew their celebrated rivalry in the British Open in England in April - when the pair could meet in the final. Defending champion Palmer, however, is in the Canadian's half of the draw - and all three will be seeking their second titles.

Canadian Power upsets Nicol to capture title
LAHORE, March 27: World No. 3 Jonathan Power from Canada, clinched the 19th Pakistan Open Squash Championship, registering an upset victory over top seed and world No. 1 Peter Nicol by three games to one ... from Dawn
 

• SEMI-FINALS:

[1] Peter Nicol (Eng)  bt [13] Martin Heath (Sco)
17/15, 15/5, 15/7   54m
[3] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [2] David Palmer (Aus)
15/7, 13/15, 15/12, 15/7  83m

Nicol and Power to renew famous rivalry in Pakistan Open final
Howard Harding reports
Despite not featuring a Pakistani player for the first time in the event's illustrious 22-year history, the final will provide the ultimate showdown on the spectacular new all-glass court which was imported into the country especially for the richest event on the PSA Tour to date this year.

After being fully extended in a five-game quarter-final, top-seeded Nicol overcame his surprise semi-final opponent Martin Heath in straight games.  Scottish international Heath, the 13th seed and a former national team-mate of his now-English opponent, failed to capitalise on a game-ball in the close-fought opening game, which eventually went to Nicol after 31 minutes. The London-based 28-year-old then took control and wrapped up his 17-15 15-5 15-7 victory in 54 minutes.

In the other semi-final, third seed Jonathon Power had to be at his spectacular best to overcome the second-seeded Australian David Palmer, winner of their last encounter in the Super Series Finals in London in June. The Montreal-based Canadian took the opening game, but British Open champion Palmer took the next to level the match. 

The evenly-contested battle between the two former world number ones took a downturn midway through the fourth game when Palmer pulled a thigh muscle and took a three-minute break.  He had little to offer on his return, and Power clinched his 15-7 13-15 15-12 15-7 victory in 83 minutes.

This year the Nicol-Power tally stands at one-all, with the career record 15-12 in favour of Nicol. Pakistan squash fans are in for a treat !

• Nicol faces Power in today's final from Dawn

 
THE FINAL:

• Canadian Power upsets Nicol to capture title Dawn

Power bt Nicol
15/10, 13/15, 15/10, 15/14

Nicol v Power
head to head

Concrete efforts needed to regain lost glory
LAHORE, March 28: Former squash giants Pakistan need a long time and concerted efforts to pull the game out from abysmal depths, a fact that was proven at the $105,000 Pakistan Open which concluded here Wednesday ... from Dawn

SOLVED: riddle of the missing results. You may have noticed that it took a while to get the final results of the early rounds. Here's why, as reported on Dawn ...

On Monday: A strong windstorm marred the proceedings of the championship and the last two matches had to be shifted from the all glass-wall portable court set up at the Fortress Stadium to the indoor court of Punjab Squash Complex.

The penultimate match of the second round between the world No 2 David Palmer (Australia) and 17 Del Harris (England) was in its third game stage with Palmer winning 15-11, 15-12, when the weather forced the organisers to shift the match to the Punjab Squash Complex.

Semi-Finals:

Nicol 3 - 1 Heath

Power 3 - 1 Palmer

• QUARTER-FINALS:

[1] Peter Nicol (Eng)  bt [15] Anthony Ricketts (Aus)
15/17, 15/11, 15/8, 8/15, 15/12
[13] Martin Heath (Sco) bt [4] John White (Sco)
 9/15, 15/13, 15/13, 15/8
[3] Jonathon Power (Can) bt [Q] Amr Shabana (Egy)
15/5 15/6 15/3
[2] David Palmer (Aus) bt [11] Lee Beachill (Eng)
15/13 15/12 15/5

Heath sets up 'all-Scottish' semi ...
In a tournament full of shock results, the quarter-finals provided one more as Scotland's Martin Heath put out fourth seed John White. White took the first game, but in this all-Scottish battle Heath, the country's number two, fought all the way and eventually claimed the semi-final place in just short of an hour's play. Earlier top seed Peter Nicol had struggled to overcome Australia's Anthony Ricketts in five games, recovering from 0-7 in the fifth after 79 minutes. The semi-final will be a rerun of January's US Open quarter-final, which Nicol took with ease.

The second semi-final will be between second and third seeds David Palmer and Jonathon Power, as both cruised to quick-fire victories over Amr Shabana and Lee Beachill respectively. Power outclassed Shabana in just 20 minutes,  and while the first two games were close British Champion Beachill made no impression in the third against Palmer. Recent matches between the Power and Palmer have been full of incident, and the Pakistani crowd will be looking forward to this one with relish.
 

• LOCAL NEWS
  from Dawn
   

• Jahangir to file writ petition over sacking
             

• Challenging task ahead for PSA
      

• Three Pakistanis qualify for main round
         

• Shahier outlasts Zubair in thriller
             

• Six Punjab players in qualifying rounds
         

• PSF chief unhappy with senior players
   

• Nicol starts as firm favourite
     

• Focused Nicol sets sights on winning Pakistan Open

• Round TWO

• Seeds tumble in round two
  Sun 24 Mar: While top seed Peter Nicol moved smoothly into the quarter-finals, all around him seeds were falling. Nicol's quarter-final opponent will be Anthony Ricketts, who beat first seed Thierry Lincou. Martin Heath set up an all-Scottish quarter-final, beating Mark Chaloner in four, and meets John White, who scored a comfortable 3/0 win over Chris Walker.
    
  In the bottom half home hopes were extinguished as Amr Shabana put out 1998 champion Amjad Khan, Pakistan's last hope of reclaiming the title. British Champion Lee Beachill continued the string of upsets, putting out seventh seed Ong Beng Hee in four games. Full Draw & Results
   

• Shabana downs Amjad to end Pakistan's challenge from Dawn
     

• Round One

• Shabana stuns Boswell,
  Amjad axes Alex ...
  Sat 23 Mar: Egypt's Amr Shabana caused the first major upset of the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open, defeating world number six Australian Stewart Boswell in straight games as the bottom half of the draw got under way in Lahore. In the second session, second seed David Palmer eased through, while domestic hopes were kept alive as Amjad Khan squeezed past 12th seed Alex Gough in five ... draw & results
    

• Reports from Dawn
• Palmer crushes Mansoor  
• Top seed Nicol begins campaign in style

Pakistan Open 2002, 22-27 Mar, $105k
qualifying  results

Anthony Ricketts

Peter Nicol
 

17/15 15/5 15/7
 

Martin Heath

Peter Nicol
 

head to head

15/10, 13/15, 15/10, 15/14

Jonathon Power

Martin Heath

Amjad Khan
15/13 15/11 13/15 15/4
Amr Shabana

Amr Shabana

15/5 15/6 15/3

Jonathon Power

Jonathon Power

15/7 13/15 15/12 15/7

David Palmer

Lee Beachill

15/13 15/12 15/5

David Palmer

Qualifying Finals:
Dan Jenson (AUS) bt John Williams (AUS) 15-9, 15-6, 15-4
Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt Lars Harms (SUI)     15-10, 15-7, 15-11
Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Yasir Butt (PAK)   15-7, 15-6, 15-11
Aijaz Azmat (PAK) bt Shahier Razik (CAN)    15-8, 12-15, 15-10, 15-12
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Moh'd Essam Hafiz (EGY)  15-6, 9-15, 15-11, 13-5 ret.
Muhammad Ilyas (PAK) bt Shahid Zaman (PAK)  15-14, 15-14, 5-15, 15-12
Moh'd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt Adrian Grant (ENG)    17-16, 15-6, 15-11
Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK)     15-6, 15-5, 15-3

Qualifying round one: John Williams (Aus) and Ranan Lavigne (Fra) byes,
Dan Jenson (Australia) bt Safeerullah Khan (Pakistan) 15-12, 13-15, 15-5, 15-8. Wael El Hindi (Egypt) bt Arshad Iqbal Burki (Pak) 15-7, 11-15, 15-6, 15-10. Lars Harms (Sui) bt Saeed Hasan (Pak) 12-15, 15-13, 15-6, 15-11. Amr Shabana (Egypt) bt Farrukh Zaman (Pak) 15-11, 15-12, 15-13. Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Naseem Tahkali (Pak) 15-11, 15-6, 15-5. Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt Asghar Khan (Pak) 15-3, 15-8, 17-16. Shamsul Islam (Pak) bt Shah Nawaz (Pak) 15-17, 15-7, 15-11, 15-6. Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Imran Khan (Pak) 15-11, 16-17,15-10, 15-13. Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia) bt Waseem Shad (Pak) 15-3, 15-7, 15-8. Aijaz Azmat (Pak) bt Khayal Muhammad (Pak) 15-8, 15-11, 15-10. Shahier Razik (Egypt) Zubair Ali Khan (Pak) 12-15, 17-15, 15-9, 13-15, 15-12. M Essam A Hafiz (Egypt) bt Majid Khan (Pak) 15-9, 15-11, 15-8. Mohammad Ilyas bt Raj Nanda (Aus) 15-13, 15-5, 15-8, Adrian Grant (England) bt Naveed Atlas (Pakistan) 12-15, 15-8, 15-5, 15-11
 

Previous Pakistan Open Winners:
 

1990: Jansher Khan bt Jahangir Khan
1989: Jahangir Khan bt Jansher Khan
1987: Jansher Khan bt Jahangir Khan
1986: Jahangir Khan bt Ross Thorne
1985: Jahangir Khan bt Qamar Zaman
1984: Jahangir Khan bt Chris Dittmar
1983: Jahangir Khan bt Qamar Zaman
1982: Jahangir Khan bt Hiddy Jahan
1981: Jahangir Khan bt Qamar Zaman
1980: Jahangir Khan bt Qamar Zaman