Zaman Zaps Kneipp In Islamabad

Pakistan's Shahid Zaman continued his run of good form over the past few weeks by claiming his biggest scalp to date in despatching Australia's sixth seed Joseph Kneipp in straight games in today's second round of the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open in Islamabad.

The 22-year-old qualifier from Quetta, who is currently based in the UK, made his breakthrough in the first round with a five-game victory over ninth seed Adrian Grant. He then overwhelmed Kneipp, the world No11 from Brisbane, winning 11-9 11-7 11-3 in 35 minutes.

Shahid's cousin Mansoor Zaman, however, was unable to produce a second successive upset in Islamabad. The unseeded left-hander from Peshawar, who beat 12th seed Dan Jenson on the opening day, kept top-seeded Australian David Palmer on court for 45 minutes but eventually went down 11-9 11-8 3-11 11-8.

"It was a tricky match. I played well, but this week I find it difficult to find any motivation," Palmer conceded to Framboise Gommendy of www.squashsite.co.uk. "I felt in control for the first two games, then I fell a bit flat, and that's when he started playing very well. I find it surprising that he doesn't play at that level the rest of the year. I'm really happy to get through to the next round, and I'm looking forward to playing Jonathan tomorrow."

Canada's fifth seed Jonathon Power set up his third PSA Tour clash this year with Palmer after dismissing Egypt's 11th seed Mohammed Abbas 11-7 11-5 11-4 in 38 minutes. After losing to the Australian in the Hong Kong Open in September and in the Bermuda Open in March, Power will be looking forward to resuming his winning ways of 2003 against the world No4 in Wednesday's quarter-final.

Palmer's compatriot Anthony Ricketts was in impressive form in his second round encounter against Egypt's fourth seed Karim Darwish. The tenth seed from Sydney came back from a game down, and withstood two tie-break games, to upset Darwish 9-11 11-6 11-10 10-11 11-2 in 62 minutes.

The day's most decisive victory was gained by English star James Willstrop, the 21-year-old world No13 who is the eighth seed. Willstrop brushed aside unseeded Finn Olli Tuominen 11-7 11-4 11-1 in just 19 minutes to set up a last eight clash with Egypt's former world champion Amr Shabana.

"It's the best I've played for a long time," said Willstrop on www.squashsite.co.uk. "It's nice when everything just comes back together. I played with a lot of confidence. The first game was tough. As Olli gets everything back, I tried to take control of the rallies early. I must say I was expecting a very tough match, and I thought that all the games were going to be as hard as the first, and I was expecting to have to play a five setter. So I was really pleased to win in three."

2nd round:
[1] David Palmer (AUS) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8 (45m)
[5] Jonathon Power (CAN) bt [11] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (38m)
[10] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) bt [4] Karim Darwish (EGY) 9-11, 11-6, 11-10 (3-1), 10-11 (1-3), 11-2 (62m)
[7] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [14] Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8 (66m)
[8] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-7, 11-4, 11-1 (19m)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [15] Mark Chaloner (ENG) 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3 (41m)
[Q] Shahid Zaman (PAK) bt [6] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 (35m)
[2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [Q] Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK) 11-5, 11-5, 11-8 (33m)