Pakistan sail into Virtual Scrabble WC semis

LAHORE: Pakistan have sealed a berth in the semi-finals of the COCO Virtual Scrabble World Cup, defeating Malaysia by 14-11 in the quarter-final.

Junior world champion Syed Imaad Ali led the team with four spectacular wins from his five encounters. Other team members too contributed to the win with the following results: Moiz Ullah Baig 3-2, Hassan Hadi Khan 3-2, Sohaib Sanaullah 2-3 and Waseem Khatri 2-3.

According to Geo TV, world champion Ganesh Asirvatham led Malaysia as he won all five matches. Bu his teammates fell short and could not ensure victory. In the final round, Pakistan looked comfortable as their record stood at 12-8 while the opposition needed to win by 5-0. Malaysia did win the first three but their hopes quickly dwindled when Moiz and Imaad took the team to victory.

Pakistan became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals where they will be up against favourites United States, who pulverised Singapore for 18-7. Meanwhile, India beat Australia for 13-12 and Canada handed Ireland a defeat of the same margin. The semi-finals are scheduled on August 8 and 9.