Four Pakistanis Reach Asian Junior Squash Championship Final

Organised by the Asian Squash Federation, the Asian Junior Squash Individual Championships are the individual championships for the Asian Junior Squash players. Squash is a popular sport played on a four-walled court either between two players or four in doubles. Squash is similar to baseball. In squash, players take turns hitting the ball to specific areas on the walls and aim to score points where their opponent cannot return the ball.On Friday, four Pakistani squash players established their spots in the finals of the Asian Junior Championship after a tough competitive semi-final organised at Mushaf Sports Complex in Islamabad.

Four Pakistani squash players reach the finals

Pakistan earned four spots in the finals of the Asian Junior Squash Championship after competitive semi-finals held at Islamabad’s Mushaf Sports Complex on Friday. Sohail Adnan and Huzaifa Shahid are both from Pakistan and will come in finals on Saturday for the boys U-13 title.At the 31st edition of the tournament, Abudllah Nawaz will face Nikhileshwar Moganasundharam from Malaysia in the U-17 category. Last year’s champion Hamza Khan will fight against Harith Danial in the U-19 category finals. No girl players from Pakistan advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. The semi-finals featured around 200 players from 12 countries, including India, Iran, Hong Kong, host Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Qatar Malaysia, Macau, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The players played in various age categories, including U-13, U-15, U-17, and U-19.

The Ali sister’s earlier this month significantly contributed to the medal count of Pakistan at the PBA 20th Penang Malaysia Junior Open.

Performances by the players

By defeating Muhammad Ifwat Zulkifli, Sohail established his place in the finals with scores of 11-8, 11-6, and 11-2. With an easy win, Huzaifa dominated his Malaysian opponent Julius Tan in the boys U-13 semi-finals with scores of 11-2, 11-8, and 11-5. In the U-15 category, the rivalry between Pakistan and Malaysia continued, where Abdullah Zaman of Pakistan was defeated by Muhammad Raziq Razi of Malaysia with the score of 11-7, 11-8, and 11-6 to reach the finals. In the other U-15 semi-final, Nouman Khan of Pakistan started strong against Shiven Agarwal of India but lost with the score of  5-11, 9-11, 0-11, exiting the championship. In the U-17 category, Abdullah Nawaz of Pakistan defeated Malaysia’s Altamis Aqhar Sallam with scores of 11-4, 14-12, 11-6.In the same U-17 category, Nikhileswar Moganasundharam of Malaysia defeated Pakistan’s Azan Ali with scores of 11-6, 11-6, and 8-11.Hamza Khan established his place in the U-19 finals by defeating M Ammad of Pakistan with scores of 11-6, 11-5, 11-0. He will face Malaysia’s Harith Danial, who defeated South Korea’s Jooyoung Na in a thrilling match, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10.