KARACHI, July 25: England’s 16th seed, Simon Parke, survived a scare when he overcame a fighting qualifier Basit Ashfaq of Pakistan in five games to advance to the second round of Pakistan Open squash championship at the DHA Asif Nawaz squash complex on Monday.

At the outset, eight of the nine home players competing in the event, met their Waterloo in the first round which completed on the second day. Three of them Aqib Hanif, Safeerullah Khan and Shamsul Islam made their exit the other day while five were eliminated on Monday.

With their defeats, Shahid Zaman is the lone flag-bearer of the country now left to face the challenging task. He meets reigning world champion Thiery Lincou of France in the second round match on Tuesday.

Trailing 1-2 down, Parke, ranked 21st in the world, struggled to beat Basit 11-2, 10-11, 9-11, 11-7 and 11-2 in the grueling 50-minute encounter.

Lahore-based Basit who won the British under-19 title earlier this year had a shaky start losing the opener 2-11. In the following two games he executed good shots and surged 2-1 ahead in the match taking the second and third sets 11-10 and 11-9.

However, due to inexperience, Basit failed to keep the momentum of his pace in the crucial fourth set as Parke levelled the score two-all by winning 11-7. Finally, the Englishman wrapped up the match taking the fifth set 11-2.

In his post match comments Basit attributed his defeat to ‘lack of experience.’ Had I won the fourth set, the result would have been different,’ said Basit who is ranked 180 in the world.

Eighth seed Gregory Gaultier became the second Frenchman after Lincou to make his way into the second round disposing of Pakistan’s 21st seed Mansoor Zaman 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 in 29 minutes.

Gaultier, a frequent visitor to Pakistan, had lifted the Chief of Air Staff and Chief of the Naval Staff squash titles two years back and his victim in both the finals was none other than Mansoor.

Adrian Grant of England, the eleventh seed, faced stiff resistance from qualifier Yasir Butt in his 11-10, 11-7, 11-9 triumph.

The first set between Grant and Yasir was fought neck-and-neck with both being tied at 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 10-10 and 11-11 before the former won in a tie-breaker 11-10 (13-11).

The Englishman, who won Chief of Army Staff title at Islamabad last year, shot into 6-0 lead in the second. Thereafter, he started committing errors conceding two quick points by hitting the tin. Yasir got another point when he was awarded a stroke to make the score 7-3. When Grant just needed match point to win, he again conceded three points in a row hitting the tin before winning the set 11-7.

Grant earned a commanding 6-0 lead in the third set but Yasir did not lose heart and at one stage came close to 9-10 before the former won it 11-9.

Egyptian Amr Shabana, the third seed, took just 17 minutes to edge out Australian Den Johnson 11-3, 11-3, 11-3 to storm into the second round.

Ninth seed Joseph Kneipp of Australia was stretched to the distance by 20th seed Renan Lavigne of France, before cruising into next round. The former was home 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in 45-minutes.

Holder James Willstrop of England had no difficulty in outwitting wild card Amir Atlas Khan 11-4, 11-3 and 11-1.

In an all-Egyptian match, Wael El Hindi after dropping the opener, recovered to beat Mohamed Abbas 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 in 27 minutes.

Second seed David Palmer of Australia had a smooth run beating qualifier Khayal Muhammad Khan 11-1, 11-7, 11-5 in 20 minutes.

Results (first round):

Simon Park (England) bt Basit Ashfaq (Pakistan) 11-2, 10-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2; Gregory Gaultier (France) bt Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8; Adrian Grant (England) bt Yasir Butt (Pakistan) 11-10, 11-7, 11-9; Amr Shabana (Egypt) bt Den Jenson (Australia) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3; Joseph Kneipp (Australia) bt Renan Lavigne (France) 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4; James Willstrop (England) bt Aamir Atlas (Pakistan) 11-4, 11-3, 11-1; Wael El Hindi (Egypt) bt Mohamed Abbas (Egypt) 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2; David Palmer (Australia) bt Khayal Mohammad Khan (Pak) 11-1, 11-7, 11-5

Fixtures for Tuesday: (Second round) Matches begins at 12:00 noon

Thiery Lincou (Fra) v Shahid Zaman (Pak); Karim Darwish (Egy) v Ong Beng Hee (Mas); Anthony Ricketts (Aus) v Olli Tuominen (Fin); Nick Matthew (Eng) v M Azlan Iskandar (Mas); Simon Parke (Eng) v Gregory Gaultier (Fra); Adrian Grant (Eng) v Amr Shabana (Egy); Joseph Kneipp (Aus) v James Willstrop (Eng); Wael El Hindi (Egy) v David Palmer (Aus).