Doha: Pakistan will have five players in the first round of the 2014 PSA World Championship for the first time since 2003.
Yesterday Farhan Mehboob, Farham Zaman and brothers Aamir Atlas and Danish Atlas Khan came through qualification at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex to join compatriot Nasir Iqbal in the main draw.
The quartet booked their place in the first round of the prestigious competition courtesy of some dominant performances, with Mehboob and Zaman completing 3-0 wins over Kuwait’s Bader Al Hussaini and American Chris Gordon, respectively.
The Khan brothers show their spirit to come through testing encounters with England’s Jamie Heycocks and fellow compatriot Tayyab Aslam.
Aamir Atlas Khan, the former World No.14, was given the toughest test during qualification, taking five games to get past Heycocks to earn a first round encounter with Alister Walker while Danish, the youngest qualifier at just 20, will face German World No.10 Simon Rösner.
“This is my first time in the World Championship and I’m very happy to win today to get into the main draw,” said Danish.
“I hope to do my best against the best players in the world and get the experience of playing against them. The World Championship is huge, my uncle Jansher won it eight times and I hope to one day win it as well and make my country proud.”
Elsewhere there was delight for young English duo Ben Coleman (23) and Charles Sharpes (22) as they eased into the main draw, while Dutch player Piedro Schweertman pulled off the biggest upset of the qualification round to defeat Danish World No.62 Kristian Frost Olesen 3-1.
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