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Pakistan Open 2004
06-10 December, Islamabad, Pakistan, $85k |
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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Live
Scoring
From Pakistan
Draw & Results
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Reports
(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."
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Bank
Alfalah Pakistan Open
2004
06-10
December, Islamabad, Pakistan, $85k |
First Round
Mon 06 |
Last 16
Tue 07 |
Quarters
Wed 08 |
Semis
Thu 09 |
Final
Fri 10 |
[1] David
Palmer (AUs)
11/2, 11/3, 11/2 (14m)
[Q] Khayal Mohammed (PAK) |
David Palmer
11-9, 11-8, 3-11,
11-8 (45m)
Mansoor Zaman |
Palmer
11-6 11-7
5-11 11-7 (50m)
Power |
Ricketts
11-9, 11-10, (2-0)
7-11,
1-11, 11-7. |
Willstrop
6-11, 11-9,
11-10 (3-1), 11-3 |
[12] Dan Jenson (AUS)
11/6, 8/11, 11/10(2-0), 4/11,
11/9 (65m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) |
[5] Jonathon Power
(Can)
11/5, 6/11, 11/6, 11/5 (43m)
Peter Barker (ENG) |
Jonathon Power
11-7, 11-5, 11-4
(38m)
Mohammed Abbas |
[11] Mohammed Abbas
(EGY
11/9, 11/5, 11/5 (27m)
Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) |
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY)
11/4, 11/4, 11/8 (26m)
Shahier Razik (CAN) |
Karim Darwish
9-11, 11-6, 11-7,
10/11 (1-3),
11-2 (63 m)
Anthony Ricketts |
Ricketts
11-7, 5-11, 11-5,
11-6 (54m)
Gaultier |
[10] Anthony Ricketts
(AUS)
11/2, 11/8, 11/4 (19m)
[Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) |
[7]
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
11/9, 11/9, 11/4 (46m)
[Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) |
Gregory Gaultier
11-5, 7-11, 11-4,
8-11, 11-9
Renan Lavigne |
[14] Renan
Lavigne (FRA)
11/8, 11/7, 11/8 (32m)
Yasir Butt (PAK) |
Olli
Tuominen (FIN)
10/11(1-3), 11/7, 11/3, 9/11,
11/7 (66m)
[13] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) |
Olli Tuominen
11-/7 11-/4
11-1 (19m)
James Willstrop |
Willstrop
11-9, 11-7,
1-0 retd
Amr Shabana
|
Willstrop
11/4, 11/5,
11/3 |
Alex Gough (WAL)
11/9, 9/11, 11/5, 11/3 (41m)
[8] James
Willstrop (ENG) |
[Q] Farhan Mehboob
(PAK)
11/9, 11/5, 11/10(2-0) (31m)
[15] Mark Chaloner (ENG) |
Mark Chaloner
11/5, 11/7, 11/6
(25m)
Amr Shabana |
[Q] Joey Barrington
(ENG)
11/9, 9/11, 11/8, 11/9 (37m)
[3] Amr Shabana (ENG) |
[Q] Shahid Zaman (PAK)
6/11, 11/10(3-1), 11/4, 4/11,
11/3 (69m)
[9] Adrian Grant (ENG) |
Shahid Zaman
11/9, 11/7,
11/3 (39m)
Joe Kneipp |
Shahid Zaman
11-5, 7-11,
10-11 (3-2),
11-3, 11-6
Matthew |
[Q] Amjad Khan (PAK)
11/4, 11/6, 11/4 (18m)
[6] Joe
Kneipp (AUS) |
[Q]
Shamsul Islam Khan (PAL)
11/6, 4/11, 11/7, 8/11, 11/4 (38m)
[16] Azlan Iskandar (MAS) |
Shamsul Islam Khan
11-5, 11-5,
11-8 (33m)
Nick Matthew |
Davide Bianchetti
(ITA)
11/8, 11/3, 1/0 rtd
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) |
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Qualifying:
Finals, 05-Dec:
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Zubair Ali Khan (Pak) 11/4,
11/6, 9/11, 11/2
(27m)
Khayal Mohammed (Pak) bt Majid Khan (Pak) 11/2 10/11
(0-2), 11/8 11/7
(48m)
Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus) 4/11, 11/8,
9/11, 11/5, 11/2 (44m)
Farhan Mehboob
(Pak) bt Gavin Jones (Wal) 7/11, 11/9, 8/11, 11/10(2-0),
11/10(3-1) (54m)
Joey Barrington (Eng) bt Arshad Iqbal (Pak) 11/9, 11/5,
11/10(2-0) (43m)
Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt Wakeel Khan (Pak) 11/6, 11/4,
11/6 (18m)
Jonathan Kemp (Eng) v Saeed Hassan (Pak) 11/9, 11/9,
11/1 (18m)
Amjad Khan (Pak) bt Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pak) 11/6,
11/9, 11/9 (33m)
First Round, 04-Dec:
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) bt Aaqib Hanif (Pak) 11/6, 10/11(0-2),
11/7, 11/6 (43m)
Zubair Ali Khan (Pak) bt Safeerullah (Pak) 8/11, 11/8, 11/4, 6/11,
11/10(5-3) (41m)
Majid Khan (Pak) bt Asghar Khan (Pak) 11/6, 11/7, 11/10(2-0) (23m)
Khayal Mohd (Pak) bt Waseem Shad (Pak) 11/10(2-0), 11/9, 11/9 (44m)
Cameron Pilley (Aus) bt Khalid Atlas (Pak) 11/4, 11/7, 11/5 (22m)
Shamsul Islam Khan (Pak) bt Mubashir Gul (Pak) 3/11, 11/4, 11/5, 11/7
(33m)
Gavin Jones (Wal) bt Jehanzeb Masood (Pak) 11/2, 11/6, 11/4 (18m)
Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Farhan Moeen (Pak) 11/3, 11/4, 11/3 (15m)
Arshad Iqbal (Pak) bt Mohd Ateeq (Pak) 11/8, 11/3, 11/2 (17m)
Joey Barrington (Eng) bt Bilal Zaman (Pak) 11/1, 9/11, 11/2, 11/6
(32m)
Wakeel Khan (Pak) bt Naveed Atlas (Pak) 11/4, 11/6, 11/8 (31m)
Shahid Zaman (Pak) bt Waqar Mehboob (Pak) 11/8, 11/3, 11/4 (17m)
Saeed Hassan (Pak) bt Aman Gul (Pak) 11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (16m)
Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Basit Ashfaq (Pak) rtd
Amjad Khan (Pak) bt Farrukh Zaman (Pak) 11/10(2-0), 7/11, 11/7, 11/8
(37m)
Khawaja Adil Maqbool (Pak) bt Bradley Ball (Eng) rtd
Pre-qualifying
Finals, 03-Dec:
Khalid Atlas Khan bt Adnan Khan 11/8, 11/6, 11/3 (18m)
Jehanzeb Masood bt Adil Atlas Khan 7/11, 11/10, (4-2), 11/5, 11/8
(38m)
Amajd Khan bt Alamzeb Jnr 11/7, 11/9, 11/4 (18m)
Asghar Khan bt Shoaib Hassan 4/11, 8/11, 11/8, 11/4, 11/7 (31m)
Mubashir Gul bt Maqbali Khan 11/6, 11/7, 11/3 (21m)
Aqib Hanif bt Kashif Khan 11/9, 11/3, 11/5 (20m)
Waqar Mehboob bt Jehangir Khan Jnr 11/5, 11/1, 11/7 (15m)
Aman Gul Walk over
Pre-Qualifying First
Round, 02-Dec:
Khalid Atlas Khan bt Naveed Alam 11/5, 11/6, 11/5 (17m)
Adnan Khan bt Muhammad Waseem 11/2, 11/8, 11/6 (17m)
Jehanzeb Masood bt Alamgir Rehman 11/3, 11/7, 11/7 (15m)
Adil Atlas bt Adnan Gul 11/6, 6/11, 11/3, 11/2 (15m)
Amajd Khan bt Fahim Gul 11/8, 11/2, 11/8 (20m)
Alamzeb Jnr bt Fahad Zaman 11/7, 11/5, 7/11, 11/8 (27m)
Asghar Khan bt Muhammad Ilyas 11/4, 11/4, 11/5 (11m)
Shoaib Hassan bt Sheikh Saqib 11/2, 11/3, 11/6 (14m)
Maqbali Khan bt Muhammad Naveed 11/8, 11/7, 11/10 (3-1) (20m)
Mubashir Gul bt Ikramullah 11/2, 11/7, 11/2 (14m)
Kashif Khan bt Faizan Nawaz 7/11, 11/4, 11/3, 11/3 (16m)
Aqib Hanif bt Asghar Ali 11/3, 11/5, 11/3 (13m)
Jehangir Khan Jnr bt Naveed Nasir 11/8, 10/11(5-7), 7/11, 11/7, 11/0
(32m)
Waqar Mehboob bt Bilal Khan 11/3, 11/1, 11/1 (7m)
Aman Gul bt Khalid Khan 11/3, 11/3, 11/0 (10m)
Wakeel Khan bt Asif Khan 11/7, 11/2, 11/7 (23m)
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Semi-finals:
Willstop and Rickets
First Clash
The Islamabad crowd was treated to dramatic
upsets in both of today's (Thursday) semi-finals
of the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open Squash Championship at the Mushaf
Squash Complex when England's James Willstrop toppled second-seeded
compatriot Nick Matthew in straight games and Australia's Anthony
Ricketts pulled off his career-first win over fifth seed Jonathon
Power, t he defending champion from Canada.
When they last met on the PSA Tour, in the Swedish Open in February,
Nick Matthew beat fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop. But the
tall, 6' 4", former world junior champion from Pontefract, the eighth
seed, was in sparkling form today as he defeated Matthew 11-4 11-5
11-5 in 30 minutes to reach his first PSA Super Series final.Ricketts
put behind him three losses to Power since October to triumph over the
greatest North American player of all-time 11-9 11-10 7-11 1-11 11-7
in 79 minutes.
The 25-year-old from Sydney, who was out of action for the first half
of the year following knee surgery, is rapidly regaining the form
which took him to a career-high world No6 just over a year ago.
Ricketts has never played Willstrop before. The Islamabad crowd
is sure to witness a classic debut encounter as both players seek a
maiden Pakistan Open title.
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. |
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