KARACHI: Top Pakistani player Farhan Mehboob and his cousin Aamir Atlas Khan cruised into the main rounds of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open Squash Championship underway in Hong Kong after winning their respective qualifying finals matches.

Farhan Mehboob ranked 27th in the world circuit dropped a set before recording a formidable 9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 triumph over Mohammad Nafiizwan Adnan of Malaysia. He will now face 11th seed Peter Barker of England in the first round.

Aamir Atlas Khan currently ranked 31st in the world found Lahore based compatriot Yasir Butt an easy opponent to zap and recorded a straight set 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 victory taking only 34 minutes. Aamir will now have to compete with Malaysian Mohammad Azlan Iskandar for a place in the second round of $145,000 PSA Super Series Platinum event.

Amr Shabana and Nicol David, from Egypt and Malaysia, respectively, are both seeded to win their third successive titles in the championship. Shabana will make his 11th successive appearance in the event and will face compatriot Omar Mosaad in first round en-route to an anticipated place in the final on Sunday.

Two former men's champions are also in the men's draw - France's 2004 winner Thierry Lincou is seeded to reach the quarter-finals for the fifth time, and David Palmer, the fifth seed from Australia, is looking for his sixth successive semifinal berth since winning the trophy in 2001.

Lincou's first round opponent is India's Saurav Ghosal - one of three Asians to make it through qualifying finals - while Palmer takes on Chris Ryder, one of two Englishmen to qualify.

Nicol David is only making her fourth appearance in the women's $104,000 WISPA World Tour Platinum championship. With 11 successive Tour titles under her belt since November 2007, David has notched up 48 WISPA matches without defeat - and will be looking to chalk up her half-century in the second round. The 25-year-old from Penang faces New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes in the opening round.

But David will face stiff opposition from a number of quarters - led by the Australian-born sisters Rachael and Natalie Grinham, seeded two and three, respectively, and Natalie Grainger, the fourth seed from the USA.

Men's qualifying finals:

Tom Richards (ENG) bt Renan Lavigne (FRA) 11-3, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7 (50m); Julian Illingworth (USA) bt Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 (67m); Chris Ryder (ENG) bt Simon Rosner (GER) 11-9, 11-5, 2-11, 11-3 (38m); Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9 (54m); Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) bt Yasir Butt (PAK) 12-10, 11-5, 11-4 (34m); Scott Arnold (AUS) bt Jonathan Kemp (ENG) w/o; Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 10-12, 11-2, 11-7, 11-3 (45m); Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 (43m).