Basit spearheads Pakistan's charge into quarterfinals
By Imran Naeem Ahmad
ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The towering Basit Ashfaq led Pakistan's majestic march into the quarterfinals of the World Junior Squash Championship as all six home players on show advanced on another rewarding day for the hosts.
In what was a high-octane clash, Basit showed top seed Saurav Ghosal of India the door by making good use of his height against his much shorter rival, achieving a well-deserved 9-5, 0-9, 9-7, 9-6 victory on the centre court of the new Mushaf Squash Complex.
The win earned him a quarterfinal Friday with fellow countryman Amir Atlas, who scraped to his fourth straight triumph in the competition, this time with a 9-5, 9-3, 4-9, 9-4 knockout of Germany's Jens Schoor.
The talented Amir, nephew of Jansher Khan, continued to dazzle displaying champion qualities and despite his third-game stumble put up a good show against his hard-fighting rival.
Farhan Mahboob, on whose shoulders Pakistan's hopes mainly rest, continued his winning ways as he too checked into the quarterfinals with a 9-4, 9-3, 9-5 defeat of American Christopher Gordon and will now face Egypt's Ramy Ashour, who eliminated Englishman James Wright 9-1, 9-7, 9-2.
Playing on the championship court, Farhan toyed with Gordon most of the time and rarely encountered any problems in the first two games, although it was the third in which he faced some hiccups.
Pakistan's another rising star Yasir Butt, a former junior British Open champion was in a ruthless mood, quickly putting Germany's Simon Rosner in place with a 9-2, 9-3, 9-3 stroll into the quarterfinal where he has drawn Egypt's Mahmoud Adel, a 9-5, 10-8, 9-3 winner against New Zealander Campbell Grayson.
It was then Shahnawaz's turn to step in but he began disastrously against England's Chris Simpson dropping the first game before posting a 4-9, 9-4, 9-0, 9-6 win to set up a clash with team-mate Khalid Atlas in the last eight.
Khalid ensured that there were no Pakistani casualties for the day by downing Canadian Robin Clarke 9-1, 5-9, 9-2, 9-1 in the last of the pre quarterfinals. Earlier, the passage through to the quarters wasn't easy for Basit as Ghosal, quick on his feet, fought bravely to pull level after losing the opening game.
He was simply devastating in the second game which he won without conceding a point. The Pakistani raced to a 7-1 lead in the third game executing quality drop shots but Ghosal roared back to even the scores at 7-7 and unsettle his opponent.
However, cheered on by a handful of spectators, Basit held his nerve to wrap up the game by claiming two quick points. The fourth game was a mirror image of the third with Basit again allowing his opponent to come back after being in the lead but he did not let things go completely out of hand, finally sealing his rival's fate.
Ghosal, whose top seed status for the tournament has been questioned by some squash officials here, has never beaten the younger crop of Pakistani players and was not expected to pull off a victory against them in this tournament.
A beaming Basit later told journalists that he got a bit carried away after winning the first game. "I am happy to have won today but I admit I made mistakes on the way," he said. He also praised Ghosal for putting up a good fight.
"He was fast and was playing his shots really well." Pakistan coach Rehmat Khan conceded that Basit perhaps got a "bit excited" after snatching the first game. "As a result he got shaky in the second game and continued to give away points which he shouldn't have."
