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