ISLAMABAD               -                Pakistani juniors rewrote history as three out of four Pakistani juniors booked berths in the semifinals of the British Junior Squash Championship 2020 after registering contrasting victories against their respective opponents in U-15 and U-17 quarterfinals in Birmingham on late Saturday night.

Talking to The Nation from Birmingham on Sunday, Pakistan junior team manager Hussain Odhwani said: “It was like a dream come true for all of us as only Abdullah Nawaz lost the quarterfinals in U-13 category while rest of the Pakistani players did fantastic job and made ways to the semifinals. Noor Zaman outplayed a very tough and seeded player in the U-17 quarterfinal while in U-15 category, Muhammad Ammad and Hamza Khan registered impressive victories against their respective opponents to breeze into the semifinals.”

Noor Zaman was up against top Malaysian junior Ameeshenraj Chandaran. The first game started with Noor was slow to react, while Ameeshenraj was playing aggressive squash and won the first game 11-7 in 5 minutes. Noor roared back in great style and taught squash lesson to his opponent in the second game, winning it 11-4 in just 6 minutes.

In the third game, Ameeshenraj showed fighting skills and kept Noor under pressure by playing lobs and tried to keep his opponent at bay, but after conceding few nervy points, Noor settled down and went onto win the game 11-8 in 7 minutes. The fourth game was also played on a fast tempo, as both the players exchanged long rallies and were not ready to concede without a fight. Noor against gained supreme control and simply finished off the Malaysian, winning the game 11-7 in 6 minutes and also earned a place in the semifinals.

In U-15 category, it was double delight for Pakistan as Muhammad Ammad and Hamza Khan registered victories and booked berths in the semifinals. In the first quarterfinal, Ammad outperformed Canada’s Jacob Lin 3-1. In the first game, both the players played superb squash and were not ready to concede anything, but Ammad then committed some mistakes, which gifted the game to Jacob, who took it 11-9 in 5 minutes.

The second game proved to be one-sided affair, as Ammad fully prevailed over Jacob and won it 11-5 in 7 minutes. The Pakistani lad also dominated the third game and simply routed Jacob to grab it 11-4 in just 5 minutes. The fourth game saw both the players playing with great speed, agility and power and fighting for each and every point. Jacob could have won the game and forced the match into the fifth game, but Amamd staged a good comeback and first levelled the score at 10-all and then it 12-10 in 8 minutes to earn place in semifinals.

In another U-15 quarterfinal, Hamza Khan thrashed Malaysian Harith Daniyal 3-0 in just 16 minutes. Hazma was in commanding form and never allowed his opponent any chance to settle down in the match. He took the first game 11-4 in 5 minutes, won the second game 11-3 in 4 minutes and grabbed third one 11-8 in 7 minutes to move into semifinals, which will be played on late Sunday night.

Abdullah Nawaz was only Pakistani boy, who failed to book semifinals place in U-13 category, as he lost 0-3 to second seed Egyptian Yousef Saleem. Abdullah played out his heart and gave everything before going down fighting. He lost the first game 8-11 in 7 minutes, was beaten in the second 9-11 in 8 minutes and lost the third one 6-11 in 6 minutes.