Abbas Ambushed In First Pakistan Open Upset

Unseeded Egyptian Wael El Hindi came back from a game down to pull off the first upset in the Bank Alfalah Pakistan Open today in Karachi.

El Hindi defeated compatriot Mohammed Abbas, the 15th seed ranked five places higher at 20 in the world rankings. The 5-11 11-5 11-6 11-2 victory in 27 minutes takes El Hindi into the second round where he meets second seed David Palmer. The British Open champion from Australia inflicted one of the five defeats of the day on local players when he beat qualifier Khayal Muhammad 11-1 11-7 11-5.

England's defending champion James Willstrop took just 19 minutes to end local wild card Aamir Atlas Khan's run. Willstrop, the fifth seed, defeated the 14-year-old nephew of Jansher Khan 11-4 11-3 11-1 - and now meets Australia's Joseph Kneipp. The ninth seed overcame a two-game deficit to beat France's Renan Lavigne 5-11 7-11 11-7 11-7 11-4 in 45 minutes.

1st round:
[16] Simon Parke (ENG) bt [Q] Basit Ashfaq (PAK) 11-2, 10-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-2 (50m)
[8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Mansoor Zaman (PAK) 11-4, 11-6, 11-8 (29m)
[11] Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Yasir Butt (PAK) 11-10, 11-7, 11-9 (37m)
[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt Dan Jenson (AUS) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 (17m)
[9] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 (45m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) 11-4, 11-3, 11-1 (19m)
Wael El Hindi (EGY) bt [15] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-2 (27m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [Q] Khayal Muhammad (PAK) 11-1, 11-7, 11-5 (20m)