February 6, 2003	Thursday	Zul Hijjah 4,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 5: Pakistan’s Farhan Mahboob gained sweet revenge for his defeat to country-fellow Yasir Butt at last month’s Junior British Open as he overpowered him in four games to claim the 11th Asian Junior Squash Championship at the Roshan Khan Complex Wednesday.

The day also marked the formal opening of the championship which will now see the start of the team events from Thursday with the finals slated for Sunday.

The girls final, which was an all-India affair, was won by Joshna Chinappa who had to work hard in beating Vaidehi Reddy 5- 9, 9-7, 9-4, 9-6 in nearly 40 minutes.

But it was the boys final that followed the girls decider which turned out to be an exciting clash with Farhan winning 7-9, 9-6, 9-3, 10-8.

Yasir Butt, from Lahore who had beaten Farhan in the under-17 final of the British tournament in Sheffield quickly made his intentions clear by taking the first game.

However, Farhan after a word of advice from his father Mahboob Khan, who is his coach, came roaring back to win the second game 9-6.

He then maintained the pressure on his rival and did not give him much chance in the third game which he clinched 9-3.

But it was the tense fourth game that featured long rallies with Yasir making a gallant bid to take the match into the fifth game but Farhan did not let that happen and sealed his opponent’s fate by winning the game 10-8.

Watching the final was Jahangir Khan, president of the World Squash Federation (WSF) who later gave away the prizes to the players.

Results:

Boys individual event final: Farhan Mahboob (Pak) bt Yasir Butt (Pak) 7-9, 9-6, 9-3, 10-8.

Girls individual event final: Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Vaidehi Reddy (Ind) 5-9, 9-7, 9-4, 9-6.