Latest: Final: [8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [10] Anthony Ricketts (AUS)  
6-11, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1), 11-3 (58m)

Willstrop Wins
Pakistan Open Title

England's James Willstrop claimed the biggest squash title of his career today  when he beat Australia's Anthony Ricketts in the final of the $85,000 Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open Championship at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad.

It was the 21-year-old Yorkshireman's first appearance in a PSA Super Series event final.  After dropping the first game against the former world No6 from Sydney, eighth seed Willstrop powered to a 6-11 11-9 11-10 11-3 victory in 58 minutes.

Chief Guest at the final - only the second in the event's 20-year history not to feature Pakistani interest - was Mr Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

The two players arrived at the event's climax in contrasting styles:  Ricketts, the tenth seed, took more than three hours to upset fourth seed Karim Darwish, seventh seed Gregory Gaultier and fifth seed and defending champion Jonathon Power in the previous three rounds - while Willstrop, the former world junior champion, brushed aside his three opponents, including the 2003 world champion Amr Shabana and No2 seed Nick Matthew, in less than 70 minutes.

A delighted Willstrop was quick to heap praise on others afterwards:  "I want to thank two people back home that have helped me.  Damon Brown, who has helped me get fit, and my brother David Campion.  And of course, my coach, my father, the man who has made me the player that I am, Malcolm Willstrop."

Willstrop's Islamabad success rounds off a sensational year for the Pontefract prodigy.  The Pakistan Open brings to twelve the number of PSA tour events in which he has competed this year - all of which he has achieved his seeding, and six of which he has exceeded his predicted finish.

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  (Above: Willlstrop is totally dominant over Matthew in the semi-final.)
  
  
  
  Shabana:
  "I'm OK, but I twisted my
  knee in Qatar. It's sore, so I've got to be careful. I had to stop the match.  James was playing very well."

Quarter-finals:
Power Punishes Palmer In Pakistan
After two successive losses to the Australian this year, Canada's fifth seed Jonathon Power made amends today (Wednesday) with an 11-7 11-7 5-11 11-7 win in 50 minutes over top seed David Palmer in the quarter-finals of the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open Squash Championship in Islamabad.

Power, the defending champion from Montreal who is competing in his eighth PSA Tour event since September, now meets another Australian Anthony Ricketts for a place in the final.  Ricketts, the tenth seed who is looking for his first win over the Canadian, upset France's seventh seed Gregory Gaultier 11-7 5-11 11-5 11-6 in 50 minutes.

England's rapidly improving James Willstrop added another notable scalp to his collection when he defeated Egypt's Amr Shabana in just 20 minutes.  Third seed Shabana, the 2003 world champion, conceded the match after two games.

"I'm OK, but I twisted my knee last week in Qatar," Shabana told Framboise Gommendy of www.squashsite.co.uk.  "Today, it's very sore, so I've got to be careful, so I had to stop the match.  But James was playing very well today."

Willstrop, the eighth seed, now looks forward to a semi-final clash with fellow Yorkshireman Nick Matthew, the No2 seed.  Matthew ended local interest in the event with a five-game defeat of brave qualifier Shahid Zaman - but the 24-year-old from Sheffield had to fight back from 1/2 down to overcome the local hero 11-5 7-11 10-11 11-3 11-6 in 62 minutes.

Roun2:
Zaman Zaps Kneipp In Islamabad

Pakistan's Shahid Zaman continued his run of good form over the past few weeks by claiming his biggest scalp to date in despatching Australia's sixth seed Joseph Kneipp in straight games in today's (Tuesday) second round of the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open Squash Championship in Islamabad.

The 22-year-old qualifier from Quetta, who is currently based in the UK, made his breakthrough in the first round with a five-game victory over ninth seed Adrian Grant.  He then overwhelmed Kneipp, the world No11 from Brisbane, winning 11-9 11-7 11-3 in 35 minutes.

Shahid's cousin Mansoor Zaman, however, was unable to produce a second successive upset in Islamabad.  The unseeded left-hander from Peshawar, who beat 12th seed Dan Jenson on the opening day, kept top-seeded Australian David Palmer on court for 45 minutes but eventually went down 11-9 11-8 3-11 11-8.

"It was a tricky match.  I played well, but this week I find it difficult to find any motivation," Palmer conceded to Framboise Gommendy of www.squashsite.co.uk.  "I felt in control for the first two games, then I fell a bit flat, and that's when he started playing very well.  I find it surprising that he doesn't play at that level the rest of the year.  I'm really happy to get through to the next round, and I'm looking forward to playing Jonathan tomorrow."

Canada's fifth seed Jonathon Power set up his third PSA Tour clash this year with Palmer after dismissing Egypt's 11th seed Mohammed Abbas 11-7 11-5 11-4 in 38 minutes.  After losing to the Australian in the Hong Kong Open in September and in the Bermuda Open in March, Power will be looking forward to resuming his winning ways of 2003 against the world No4 in Wednesday's quarter-final.

Palmer's compatriot Anthony Ricketts was in impressive form in his second round encounter against Egypt's fourth seed Karim Darwish.  The tenth seed from Sydney came back from a game down, and withstood two tie-break games, to upset Darwish 9-11 11-6 11-10 10-11 11-2 in 62 minutes.  

The day's most decisive victory was gained by English star James Willstrop, the 21-year-old world No13 who is the eighth seed.  Willstrop brushed aside unseeded Finn Olli Tuominen 11-7 11-4 11-1 in just 19 minutes to set up a last eight clash with Egypt's former world champion Amr Shabana.

"It's the best I've played for a long time," said Willstrop on www.squashsite.co.uk.  "It's nice when everything just comes back together.  I played with a lot of confidence.  The first game was tough.  As Olli gets everything back, I tried to take control of the rallies early.  I must say I was expecting a very tough match, and I thought that all the games were going to be as hard as the first, and I was expecting to have to play a five setter.  So I was really pleased to win in three."

Pakistanis Lead Islamabad Upsets

Three Pakistanis delighted home crowds at the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open Squash Championship by claiming unexpected places in the second round of the PSA Super Series Silver event in Islamabad.

UK-based Shahid Zaman scored the biggest upset of the three when he despatched England's ninth seed Adrian Grant 6-11 11-10 11-4 4-11 11-3 in 69 minutes.  Shahid, a 22-year-old qualifier from Quetta, now becomes the second Pakistani to face sixth seed Joseph Kneipp after the Australian ended Amjad Khan's comeback run with an 11-4 11-6 11-4 defeat in just 18 minutes.

Shahid's unseeded cousin Mansoor Zaman was also in sparkling first round form, beating Australia's 12th seed Dan Jenson 11-6 8-11 11-10 4-11 11-9 in 65 minutes to set up a second round clash with another Australian David Palmer, the top seed.  Palmer cruised to an 11-2 11-3 11-2 win over local qualifier Khayal Muhammad in just 14 minutes.

Defending champion Jonathon Power was taken to four games by unseeded Englishman Peter Barker before winning 11-5 6-11 11-6 11-5 in 43 minutes.  The fifth seed from Canada now faces Egypt's 11th seed Mohammed Abbas for a place in the quarter-finals.

Unseeded Finn Olli Tuominen continued the form which saw him remove seventh seed John White in last week's World Open in Qatar when he upset 13th seed Ong Beng-Hee in the first round in Islamabad.  The 25-year-old from Helsinki beat the Malaysian 10-11 11-7 11-3 9-11 11-7 in 66 minutes to earn a second round meeting with England's eighth seed James Willstrop.