Eight Pak players in Asian Junior squash semis

KARACHI: Pakistan’s eight players reached the semifinals in different categories at the 31st Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship in Islamabad on Thursday.

In the quarterfinals of the under-13 category, fourth seed Sohail Adnan beat 13th seed Jackrish Kumar from Singapore 11-0, 11-7, 11-3 and sixth seed Huzaifa Shahid defeated 15th seed Fawad Khan 11-6, 11-3, 9-4.

In the quarterfinals of the under-15 category, unseeded Abdullah Zaman stunned 10th seed Shiv Kaul from Singapore 11-8, 11-8, 11-8 and fourth seed Nauman Khan defeated sixth seed Simarver Singh from Malaysia 11-1, 11-7, 11-8. In the quarterfinals of the under-17 category, top seed Abdullah Nawaz thrashed sixth seed Yusha Nafees from India 11-1, 11-7, 11-2 and 14th seed Azan Ali defeated Yaha Asad 11-7, 11-7, 11-4. In the quarterfinals of the under-19 category, 19th seed M Ammad surprised fifth seed Tam Tsz Shing from Hong Kong 11-8, 11-2, 11-9 and top seed Hamza Khan smashed 15th seed Anas Ali 11-8, 11-8, 11-4.

Now in the semifinals, Huzaif is to face 12th seed Julius Tan from Malaysia, Sohail is up against fifth seed M Ifwat from Malaysia, Nouman is drawn against second seed Shiven Agarwal from India, Abdullah Zaman will be facing top seed M Raziq from Malaysia, Azan will be playing against second seed Nikhileswar Moganasundharam from Malaysia, Abdullah Nawaz is facing third seed Altamis Aqhar from Malaysia, and Hamza will be playing against M Ammad.