KARACHI, May 28: Unseeded Majid Khan and Saeed Hasan from Pakistan came in the limelight when they upset their respective seeded rivals on the second day of German Open squash championship at Gerlingen.
According to the details made available here on Friday, both the national players made headlines on the second day by their amazing and unexpected triumphs.
Khan, a 20-year-old from Peshawar who reached the semifinals of the World Junior championships in December 2002, fought back from two games down to defeat third seed Davide Bianchetti in a 93-minute marathon.
Unable to display the same magic which led him to a shock second round victory over world No.1 Peter Nicol in last year's World Open, the Italian went down 4-15 9-15 15-13 15-5 15-3 as Khan forced his way into the quarterfinals.
Khan, the fourth-placed Pakistani in the PSA world rankings, will now face unseeded Swede Christian Drakenberg who defeated his fellow countryman Khayal Muhammad 13-15 15-8 16-17 15-3 15-5.
In the other half of the draw, Pakistan's unseeded Saeed Hassan also claimed an unexpected place in the last eight with a 15-9 15-10 13-15 15-10 victory over England's 8th seed Mark Heather in 69 minutes.
Domestic interest was focused on the women's event where unseeded Kathrin Rohrmuller claimed the only upset in the first round when she toppled Egypt's second seed Eman El Amir in four games.
Results:
Men's 2nd round: [1] Omar Elborolossy (EGY) bt [14] Matthew Giuffre (CAN) 15-4, 15-8, 15-10 (42m); [11] Bradley Ball (ENG) bt [6] Hisham Moh'd Ashour (EGY) 15-2, 15-6, 15-9 (29m); [15] Majid Khan (PAK) bt [3] Davide Bianchetti (ITA) 4-15, 9-15, 15-13, 15-5, 15-3 (93m); Christian Drakenberg (SWE) bt Khayal Muhammad (PAK) 13-15, 15-8, 16-17, 15-3, 15-5 (84m); Stacey Ross (ENG) bt [10] Alister Walker (ENG) 15-14, 8-15, 15-12, 15-12 (79m); [4] Moh'd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [12] Glenn Keenan (AUS) 15-9, 15-13, 15-5 (51m); Saeed Hassan (PAK) bt [8] Mark Heather (ENG) 15-9, 15-10, 13-15, 15-10 (69m); [2] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Raj Nanda (AUS) 15-9, 5-15, 15-12, 11-15, 15-10 (69m).
Women's 1st round: [1] Laura-Jane Lengthorn (ENG) bt [Q] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) 9-6, 9-3, 9-0 (18m); [7] Orla Noom (NED) bt [Q] Kirsty McPhee (ENG) 9-5, 9-2, 6-9, 9-1 (27m); [3] Raneem El Weleily (EGY) bt Milja Dorenbos (NED) 9-6, 9-3, 10-9 (34m); [8] Margriet Huisman (NED) bt [Q] Olivia Hauser (SUI) 9-1, 5-9, 10-8, 9-0 (53m); [6] Line Hansen (DEN) bt Nicolette Fernandes (GUY) 9-1, 9-1, 9-0 (30m); [4] Karen Kronemeyer (NED) bt [Q] Dagmar Vermeulen (NED) 9-1, 9-4, 9-4 (25m); [5] Amnah El Trabolsy (EGY) bt Manuela Manetta (ITA) 6-9, 9-10, 9-6, 9-5, 9-7 (56m); Kathrin Rohrmuller (GER) bt [2] Eman El Amir (EGY) 3-9, 9-6, 9-3, 9-3 (30m). -PPI
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