27/09/2006
CNS SQUASH INTERNATIONAL
Grant Wins CNS International Title
Tournament
CNS Squash International,
Karachi, Pakistan
Final:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-7, 6-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-7 (56m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [4] Liam Kenny (IRL) 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-8 (77m)
[3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) (64m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4 (49m)
[4] Liam Kenny (IRL) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-7, 4-11, 11-2, 11-4 (43m)
[3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Amjad Khan (PAK) 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 (23m)
[Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Tom Richards (ENG) 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 (29m)
1st round:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Omar Mosaad (EGY) 11-9, 11-8, 2-11, 11-6 (66m)
Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt [5] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4 (35m)
[4] Liam Kenny (IRL) bt Jesse Engelbrecht (ZIM) 11-9, 11-3, 11-8 (33m)
Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt [7] Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 11-6, 11-5, 6-11, 4-11, 11-0 (48m)
[Q] Amjad Khan (PAK) bt [6] Khayal Muhammad Khan (PAK) 11-6, 11-9, 11-3 (27m)
[3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [Q] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) 11-3, 11-2, 11-8 (19m)
Tom Richards (ENG) bt [8] Sherif Moustafa Kamel (EGY) 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 (41m)
[Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt [2] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-8, 11-2, 11-2 (19m)
Grant Wins CNS International Title
England's Adrian Grant, the top seed, beat local hero Mansoor Zaman, the No3 seed from Pakistan, in the final of the CNS Squash International at the Roshan Khan/Jahangir Khan Complex in Karachi, Pakistan, to win the 12th PSA Tour title of his career.
It was a battle between two left-handers, in which Londoner Grant took the early initiative before Zaman levelled the match after the second game. It took a tie-break to resolve the third – but the Englishman, the 25-year-old world No17 now based in Yorkshire, extended his advantage in the fourth to claim an 11-7, 6-11, 11-10 (2-0), 11-7 victory after 56 minutes.
The win marks Grant's third PSA Tour title success in Pakistan after winning the COAS International in February 2004 and the CAS International in August 2005 – both in Islamabad.
Grant & Zaman To Contest CNS International Final
England's top seed Adrian Grant and Mansoor Zaman, the No3 seed from Pakistan, will meet in the final of the CNS Squash International after surviving marathon semi-final battles in the $25,000 PSA Tour event at the Roshan Khan/Jahangir Khan Complex in Karachi, Pakistan.
Zaman, currently the highest-ranked player in Pakistan, avenged his shock defeat earlier this month in the World Open in Egypt when he beat teenage compatriot Aamir Atlas Khan.
But the 16-year-old qualifier from Peshawar fought back from a game down against Zaman to lead 2/1.
Left-hander Zaman, the South Asian Games champion, called upon his greater experience to reclaim the advantage – ultimately winning 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-10 (2-0) in 64 minutes to reach his 14th PSA Tour final.
Grant also had to come from behind – recovering from the loss of the first game to beat Irishman Liam Kenny, the fourth seed, 9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-8 in 77 minutes.
Londoner Grant, one match away from his third PSA title win in Pakistan, is celebrating his 16th PSA final appearance.
Khan Canters Into CNS Semis
Pakistan teenage sensation Aamir Atlas Khan continued his impressive run in the CNS Squash International when he defeated England's Tom Richards to reach the semi-finals of the $25,000 PSA Tour event at the Roshan Khan/Jahangir Khan Complex in Karachi, Pakistan.
The 16-year-old qualifier from Peshawar fought back from a game down to beat unseeded Richards, from Surrey, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-5 in 29 minutes.
Khan, a nephew of eight-times world champion Jansher Khan, will now face compatriot Mansoor Zaman, the No3 seed who beat last year's runner-up Amjad Khan, a former Pakistan No1, 11-2, 11-6, 11-8 in just 23 minutes.
Zaman, currently the highest-ranked player in his country, will be keen to avenge his shock defeat by Aamir Atlas Khan earlier this month in the World Open in Egypt.
The other semi-final will feature England's top seed Adrian Grant and Irishman Liam Kenny. Yorkshire-based Londoner Grant beat Pakistan's Farhan Mehboob 8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, while fourth seed Kenny extinguished Egyptian interest in the event when he despatched Omar Abdel Aziz 11-7, 4-11, 11-2, 11-4.
Semi-final line-up:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) v [4] Liam Kenny (IRL)
[Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) v [3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK)
Seeds Savaged In CNS International
Only three seeds survived today's (Tuesday) first round of the CNS Squash International - the rout being led by a trio of local players who claimed unexpected places in the last eight of this established PSA Tour event in Karachi, Pakistan.
Aamir Atlas Khan caused the biggest casualty. The 16-year-old qualifier from Peshawar beat second-seeded compatriot Shahid Zaman 11-8, 11-2, 11-2 in 19 minutes.
Khan now faces England's unseeded Tom Richards, who despatched Egypt's eighth seed Sherif Moustafa Kamel 11-9, 11-6, 11-2.
Qualifier Amjad Khan also notched up a significant upset. The former Pakistan number one removed fellow countryman Khayal Muhammad Khan, the No6 seed, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3.
The Indian campaign also fell at the first fence when fifth seed Ritwik Bhattacharya went down 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4 to unseeded Pakistani Farhan Mehboob.
The 17-year-old from Peshawar will now take on top seed Adrian Grant, the Englishman who needed four games and 66 minutes to quell Egyptian qualifier Omar Mosaad 11-9, 11-8, 2-11, 11-6.
Quarter-final line-up:
[1] Adrian Grant (ENG) v Farhan Mehboob (PAK)
[4] Liam Kenny (IRL) v Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY)
[3] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) v [Q] Amjad Khan (PAK)
[Q] Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) v Tom Richards (ENG)
|
