Top Seeds Crash In Karachi

Top seeds Adrian Grant and Graham Ryding crashed out of the semi-finals of the CNS International in Karachi, Pakistan, as unseeded Shahid Zaman kept domestic title hopes alive by winning a five-game thriller to set up a final against Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee, the third seed.

Local hero Shahid had reached the last four after ousting Italy's fourth seed Davide Bianchetti in the quarter-finals and upsetting Egypt's eighth seed Mohd Hisham Ashour in the first round.

The world No42 from Quetta was dominated by the fitter and faster Graham Ryding, the No2 seed, during the most of the action-packed encounter - but he managed to raise his game when it mattered most.

Zaman took the first game, but seemed to be down and out after losing the second and third games 6-11 7-11. But he staged a remarkable recovery in the next two games to the surprise of his opponent.

"I felt a bit tired after the third game but there was no way I was going to surrender without a fight. I gave the fourth game everything I had and that helped," Shahid told the Pakistan News International after the match.

The Pakistani came back from 6-7 down to take the fourth game 11-8. After going 0-3 down in the fifth game, Shahid made full use of his opponent's unforced errors to level scores at 5-5. He then exerted more pressure on Ryding through some excellent cross-courts and nicks to win the match 11-9 6-11 7-11 11-8 11-9 for a place in the final.

Shahid may have been the hero of the day for local squash fans but it was Asian champion Ong Beng Hee who stole the limelight with a stunning 3/2 victory over England's top seed Adrian Grant in 82 minutes. The third-seeded Malaysian, bidding to regain a place in the top ten world rankings, kept his cool at crucial stages of the marathon encounter to win 11-8 5-11 11-10 7-11 11-9.

Shahid Zaman is celebrating his third PSA Tour final appearance this year, while Ong Beng Hee - runner-up only last month in the CAS International in Peshawar - is in the 13th professional final of his career, but looking for his first win since January 2002.

Semi-finals:
[3] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [1] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-8, 5-11, 11-10 (3-1), 7-11, 11-9
Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [2] Graham Ryding (CAN) 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9