Mansoor Leads Pakistan Assault On CAS International Title In Peshawar

Top seed Mansoor Zaman led a group of four Pakistanis through to the quarter-finals of the CAS International at the Army Squash Complex in his hometown of Peshawar today after a straight games first round win over compatriot Majid Khan.

Twice a finalist, and champion in 2001, Zaman despatched Khan 11-3 11-5 11-10 in 26 minutes to set up a meeting in the next round with Egypt's fifth seed Hisham Mohd Ashour, who took 43 minutes to overcome local qualifier Arshad Iqbal Burki 11-7 9-11 11-6 6-11 11-7.

The quarter-final clash between fellow countrymen Safeer Ullah Khan and Yasir Butt will guarantee the appearance of a qualifier in the semi-finals. Khan resisted a fight back by sixth seed Ben Garner to upset the Englishman 11-9 11-6 6-11 3-11 11-8 in 44 minutes, while Butt took his place in the last eight after his fourth-seeded opponent Shahid Zaman retired midway through the third game with an injury - with the score standing at 11-5 11-9 7-3.

1st round:
[1] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt Majid Khan (PAK) 11-3, 11-5, 11-10 (26m)
[5] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) bt [Q] Arshad Iqbal Burki (PAK) 11-7, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7 (43m)
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt Saeed Hassan (PAK) 11-7, 11-2, 9-11, 11-10 (41m)
[7] Farrukh Zaman (PAK) bt Jean-Michel Arcucci (FRA) 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 (67m)
[Q] Safeer Ullah Khan (PAK) bt [6] Ben Garner (ENG) 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 3-11, 11-8 (44m)
[Q] Yasir Butt (PAK) bt [4] Shahid Zaman (PAK) 11-5, 11-9, 7-3 ret. (24m)
[8] Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (EGY) bt Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-5, 11-8, 3-11, 11-6 (28m)
[2] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [Q] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 (44m)