Pakistan beats India to qualify for World Junior Squash Championship semi-final

KARACHI: Pakistan has qualified for the semi-final of World Junior Squash Championship beating India 2-0 in the quarter-final on Friday.

Hamza Khan and Noor Zaman defeated their Indian opponents in their respective singles to help Pakistan knock India out and confirm meeting with Egypt in the semi-final.

Noor Zaman drew the first blood when he outclassed Kirshna Mishra comfortably with score of 14-12, 11-8, 11-4 in just 32 minutes.

However, Hamza Khan faced some resistance from Arnaav Sareen, as the young Pakistani athlete had to work hard for 47 minutes to win the tie by three games to two.

Khan won first two games 11-6 and 12-10, but lost next two games 1-11 and 6-11. This allowed Sareen to make a comeback in the encounter.

However, Hamza regained his form in final game and won the contest 11-6, 12-10, 1-11, 6-11 and 11-5.

They will now play Egypt, the top seed side, in the semi-final on Saturday which will start at 3pm.

Pakistan is one of the most celebrated teams in the history of World Junior Squash Championship. It missed playing semi-final in the 2018 edition after being beaten by England in the quarter-final. Prior to early exit in 2018 — between 1996 to 2016, Pakistan played 11 consecutive semi-finals, making it to the finals of eight editions and winning four of them.