KARACHI, 3 November 2004 — Pakistan’s campaign in the 2004 British Open Squash Championship fizzled out almost as soon as it began on Monday night in Nottingham with all three of the country’s players falling in the opening rounds.
National champion Mansoor Zaman, dogged by a sinus problem, failed to show any resistance against Scotland’s John White while his younger cousin Shahid Zaman went down fighting to world No. 2 Thierry Lincou of France.
In the women’s event, Carla Khan snatched two games from Egypt’s ninth seeded Omneya Abdel Kawy but was unable to help Pakistan survive in the championship.
For the sixth straight year after Pakistan’s domination in the British Open came to an end with the defeat of Jansher Khan in the 1998 final, the country’s squash players have flopped miserably in what is the most prestigious event on the World Squash Tour.
Pakistanis have won the British Open title for the better part of the last five decades but have failed to reach beyond the second round of the tournament since 1998.
The writing was on the wall for Pakistan as just three of their players managed to make it into the main draws of the tournament’s men’s and women’s events this year. And all of them were drawn against higher-ranked opponents.
Mansoor, who climbed three places up to No. 26 in the latest world rankings, was placed against pre-tournament favorite John White, seeded sixth in the competition.
White barely raised sweat in the match as he cruised into the second round in just 15 minutes. Mansoor conceded the match with White leading 11-7, 11-3, 2-0 and later said that he had not been feeling well for the past two days, with sinus problems leading to nausea and stomach pains.
Shahid Zaman, Pakistan’s second highest-ranked player in the world rankings after Mansoor, was in much better form as he gave some anxious moments before bowing out to the second seeded Lincou.
A qualifier, Shahid played his natural, attacking game to make life difficult for Lincou, especially in the second game that went into a tiebreaker. Lincou who is looking forward to become the first Frenchman to lift the coveted British Open trophy later this week won 11-7, 11-10 (2-0), 11-9 in 44 minutes.
In the women’s court, Carla Khan gave an even better display but lost to Kawy in a five-game thriller.
The England-based Carla, a grand daughter of Pakistan squash legend Azam Khan, lead 2-1 at one stage but conceded the final two games to lose the 71-minute encounter. The young Egyptian girl won the match 9-4, 6-9, 8-10, 9-5, 9-6.
There was disappointment for local squash fans too when Nottingham favorite Simon Parke toiled for 89 minutes against tenth seed Adrian Grant before going down to the Yorkshire-based Londoner 7-11, 11-9, 11-10, 4-11, 11-9.
Grant, the first black player to play for England at senior level, was celebrating his first appearance in the first round of the British Open after four attempts to qualify.
It was a good day in Nottingham for Malaysia. Unseeded Mohamad Azlan Iskandar upset England’s 15th seed Mark Chaloner 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8 in 58 minutes to claim one of the best wins of his career.
Malaysian Sharon Wee became the only qualifier to survive the first round when she pulled off a significant upset in the women’s event to beat England’s sixth seed Fiona Geaves in straight games.
