Pakistanis Lead Islamabad Upsets

Three Pakistanis delighted home crowds at the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open by claiming unexpected places in the second round of the PSA Super Series Silver event in Islamabad.

UK-based Shahid Zaman scored the biggest upset of the three when he despatched England's ninth seed Adrian Grant 6-11 11-10 11-4 4-11 11-3 in 69 minutes. Shahid, a 22-year-old qualifier from Quetta, now becomes the second Pakistani to face sixth seed Joseph Kneipp after the Australian ended Amjad Khan's comeback run with an 11-4 11-6 11-4 defeat in just 18 minutes.

Shahid's unseeded cousin Mansoor Zaman was also in sparkling first round form, beating Australia's 12th seed Dan Jenson 11-6 8-11 11-10 4-11 11-9 in 65 minutes to set up a second round clash with another Australian David Palmer, the top seed. Palmer cruised to an 11-2 11-3 11-2 win over local qualifier Khayal Muhammad in just 14 minutes.

Defending champion Jonathon Power was taken to four games by unseeded Englishman Peter Barker before winning 11-5 6-11 11-6 11-5 in 43 minutes. The fifth seed from Canada now faces Egypt's 11th seed Mohammed Abbas for a place in the quarter-finals.

Unseeded Finn Olli Tuominen continued the form which saw him remove seventh seed John White in last week's World Open in Qatar when he upset 13th seed Ong Beng-Hee in the first round in Islamabad. The 25-year-old from Helsinki beat the Malaysian 10-11 11-7 11-3 9-11 11-7 in 66 minutes to earn a second round meeting with England's eighth seed James Willstrop.

1st round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Khayal Muhammad (PAK) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 (14m)
Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [12] Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-6, 8-11, 11-10 (3-1), 4-11, 11-9 (65m)
[5] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt Peter Barker (ENG) 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-5 (43m)
[11] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) bt Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 11-9, 11-5, 11-5 (27m)
[4] Karim Darwish (EGY) bt Shahier Razik (CAN) 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (26m)
[10] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG) 11-2, 11-8, 11-4 (19m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [Q] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 11-9, 11-9, 11-4 (46m)
[14] Renan Lavigne (FRA) bt Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 (32m)
Olli Tuominen (FIN) bt [13] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) 10-11 (1-3), 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7 (66m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Alex Gough (WAL) 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (41m)
[15] Mark Chaloner (ENG) bt [Q] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) 11-9, 11-5, 11-10 (2-0) (31m)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Joey Barrington (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9 (37m)
[Q] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [9] Adrian Grant (ENG) 6-11, 11-10 (3-1), 11-4, 4-11, 11-3 (69m)
[6] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt [Q] Amjad Khan (PAK) 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 (18m)
[Q] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) bt [16] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-6, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4 (38m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Davide Bianchetti (ITA) w/o