KARACHI, Jan 5: Pakistan's campaign in the British Junior Open squash Championship received a serious setback when top seed Khalid Atlas Khan crashed out of the quarterfinals of the under-19 event in Sheffield on Sunday.
According to the results of the competition made available here, Khalid fell to Egypt's lower-ranked Mahmoud Adel El Said in four games. The Egyptian won 10-9, 9-4, 3-9, 9-1 in 80 minutes.
It was a big blow for national squash officials who were confident that the highly-rated Khalid will win the under-19 title known as the Drysdale Cup to keep it in Pakistan's hands. Last year, another Pakistani safeerullah Khan won the Drysdale Cup.
There was more diasppointment for Pakistan as another of their players, Basit Ashfaq, also lost in the quarterfinals. Basit who shocked third seeded comaptriot Yasir Butt in the pre-quarters was thrashed by Mexico's Jose Angel Bacerril in straight games.
The exit of Khalid and Basit means that no Pakistani player will feature in the semifinals of the under-19 competition. While the top seeds are all progressing safely in seven of the eight age-group events in Sheffield, the Boys under-19 field, battling for the Drysdale Cup, saw most of the top seeds scattered on Sunday.
England's Laurence Delasaux now has a great chance to provide a home winner, as the second seed finds himself in the last four with three seeds from Egypt, Mexico and India.
Pakistan were given some hope by defending under-17 champion Farhan Mahboob who sailed into the semifinals of the under-17 competition with a brisk 23-minute 9-1, 9-0, 9-3 victory over England's Nicholas Bradley. But his compatriot Bilal Zaman was beaten by Germany's Simon Rosner in another quarterfinal.
Sunday results:
Boys U-19 Quarterfinals: Mahmoud Adel El Said {Egypt} bt Khalid Atlas Khan {Pakistan} 10-9, 9-4, 3-9, 9-1; Jose Angel Becerril {Mexico} bt Basit Ashfaq {Pakistan} 9-0, 9-2, 9-7; Saurav Ghosal {India} bt Sherif Kamel {Egypt} 9-2, 9-0, 9-7; Laurence Delasaux {England} bt Yann Perrin {France} 9-6, 9-2, 9-5
Boys U-17 Quarterfinals: Farhan Mehboob {Pakistan} bt Nicholas Bradley {England} 9-1, 9-0, 9-3; Chris Simpson {England) bt Chris Hall {England} 9-5, 9-3, 10-8; Simon Rosner {Germany} bt Bilal Zaman {Pakistan} 9-3, 3-9, 9-6, 3-9, 9-6; Omar Mosaad Abou Zeid {Egypt} bt Omar Abdel Meguid {Egypt} 9-4, 9-5, 9-0
Boys U-15 (third round): Mohamed Reda {Egypt} bt Ivan Yuen {Malaysia} 9-0, 9-2, 9-2; Michael Harris {England} bt Kamran Khan {Malaysia} 7-9, 0-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-7; Harinder Pal Singh {India} bt Adnan Khan {Pakistan} 6-9, 10-8, 9-5, 9-4; Au Leo {Hong Kong} bt Lyall Paterson {Scotland} 9-2, 9-4, 9-3; Nicolas Muller {Switzerland} bt David Letourneau {Canada} 10-8, 9-1, 9-0; Karim Osman {Egypt} bt James Rushton {England} 9-3, 9-2, 9-0; Petr Martin {Czech} bt Ahmed Osama Hawas {Egypt} 0-9, 9-5, 6-9, 10-8, 9-7; Amir Atlas Khan {Pakistan} bt Adrian Waller {England} 9-2, 9-1, 9-0
Boys U-13 (fourth round): Mohamed Hossam {Egypt} bt Sheikh Saqib {Pakistan} 9-2, 9-3, 9-4; Waqar Mehboob {Pakistan} bt Omar Marei {Egypt} 9-3, 9-1, 9-7; Adel Zarka {Egypt} bt Danish Atlas {Pakistan} 9-6, 9-7, 9-2; Ali Farag {Egypt} bt Karim Abdel Gawad {Egypt} 5-9, 9-7, 9-2, 9-6; Simon Haigh {Yorkshire} bt Aqeel Mohsen {Kuwait} 9-5, 9-5, 9-3; Eslam El Fiky {Egypt} bt Ramit Tandon {India} 9-1, 9-0, 9-3; Amr Khaled Fouad {Egypt} bt Robert Downer {England} 9-1, 9-4, 9-3; Asif Khan {Pakistan} bt Theodore Anderson {England} 9-7, 9-5, 9-6.-PPI
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