Anas makes exit in World Junior squash

ISLAMABAD: Hamza Khan continued his surge moving into the pre-quarter-finals of the World Junior Squash as Ashab Irfan made an unexpected exit, losing to a Malaysian in the third round in Nancy (France).

Hamza outplayed Joo Young Na (Korea) 11-5, 11-4, 11-4. Ameesheneeraj Chandran (Malaysia) defeated Ashab Irfan 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 in a match that saw many ups and downs. The first two games saw a neck and neck fight with Ashab looking well set to win the second. Chandran who trains in the USA however rallied back to win the second and then the third with ease. He will now face top seed Hamza Khan in the pre-quarter finals today (Saturday).

Earlier, in the second round Noor Zaman defeated Seojin Oh (Korea) 11-3, 11-9, 11-3 to move into the third round where he will take on David Bernet (Switzerland) late evening.

Two Pakistanis, top seed Hamza and second seed Noor now stay in contention following the exit of Ashab and Anas Ali Shah who lost the first-round match.