Four Pakistanis reach Asian Jr squash championship finals

Pakistani players showed excellent performance and won a gold and silver medals in earlier squash tournaments

KARACHI:

Pakistan secured four berths in the finals of the Asian Junior Squash Championship held at Islamabad's Mushaf Sports Complex following intense semi-finals on Friday.

In Saturday’s finals, Huzaifa Shahid and Sohail Adnan, both from Pakistan, will compete for the Boys U-13 title, while Abdullah Nawaz will face Malaysia’s Nikhileswar Moganasundharam in the U-17 category at the tournament’s 31st edition.

Hamza Khan, last year's world champion, will challenge Malaysia’s Harith Danial in the U-19 category finals.

No Pakistani girls progressed to the semi-finals of the tournament, which featured around 200 players from twelve countries across different age categories (U-13, U-15, U-17, and U-19).

Earlier this month, the Ali sisters contributed significantly to Pakistan’s medal tally at the PBA 20th Penang Malaysia Junior Open.

Sohail achieved a convincing victory over Malaysia’s Muhammad Ifwat Zulkifli with scores of 11-8, 11-6, 11-2 to secure his spot in the finals.

Huzaifa dominated his opponent Julius Tan from Malaysia, winning comfortably with scores of 11-2, 11-8, 11-5 in the Boys U-13 semi-final.

Malaysia and Pakistan continued their rivalry in the U-15 category as Muhammad Raziq Razi defeated Pakistan’s Abdullah Zaman 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 to reach the finals.

Nouman Khan of Pakistan started strong in the other U-15 semi-final against India’s Shiven Agarwal but lost 5-11, 9-11, 0-11, thus exiting the championship.

The U-17 category witnessed another intense Pakistan-Malaysia contest as Abdullah Nawaz defeated Altamis Aqhar Sallam 11-4, 14-12, 11-6.

In the same category, Malaysia’s Nikhileswar Moganasundharam avenged his compatriot’s loss by beating Azan Ali of Pakistan 11-6, 11-6, 8-11.

Hamza Khan secured his place in the U-19 finals by outplaying M Ammad of Pakistan 11-6, 11-5, 11-0, setting up a clash with Malaysia’s Harith Danial, who defeated South Korea’s Jooyoung Na in a thrilling match 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10 to advance.