The 29th seed from Peshawar, who recently won a team event gold medal at the Asian Games, took 41 minutes to dispatch Azan in a 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 win.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Amr Shabana confidently began his bid to become only the third player in history to win five World Open titles by beating English qualifier Chris Simpson in the first round. The third seed from Cairo recorded a 11-7, 12-10, 11-8 win in 36 minutes.

The $327,500 PSA World Tour championship, the richest ever in world squash, is being staged in Saudi Arabia for the first time, after five successful years of the Saudi International.