22 August 2004	Sunday	05 Rajab 1425

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: Pakistan's bid of winning their first individual World Junior Squash title in almost 18 years was alive and well on Saturday with Yasir Butt's advance to the final but an Egyptian Ramy Ashour was threatening to wreck the host nation's hopes.

In the semifinals played at the Mushaf Squash Complex, Ashour brought to an end the exciting run of Pakistan's pocket-sized find Amir Atlas edging him 9-2, 9-5, 9-6 while Yasir flogged fellow countryman Khalid Atlas 9-1, 9-2, 9-3 in what was literally a mismatch.

No home player since the great Jansher Khan's triumph of 1986 has won the individual title and the Pakistani officials were keeping their fingers crossed ahead of Sunday's decider.

The inexperienced Amir, said to be a champion in the making, was only himself to blame, surrendering a 5-2 lead in the second and third games after losing the opener against his more experienced rival.

Ashour, with remarkable reach and a top quality of strokes in his arsenal, was the more dominant player although Amir did trouble him at times during the course of play.

"I think he was not mentally tough and even though he was ahead twice in the match, I was fully focused and never lost concentration," said Ashour who had put the brakes on Pakistan's Farhan Mahboob on way to the semifinals.

Ashour had no hesitation in saying that he would now go on to capture the championship and the Egyptian camp too had no doubts about that.

Amir, 15, said he should have drawn Ashour into playing longer rallies, something he was not able to do but admitted that his opponent was the better player.

Pakistan coach Rehmat Khan was quick to a remark that as far as he was concerned, Amir's making it to the semifinals was a big achievement.

"To expect him to win this championship would have been asking too much from him."

Little Amir had underlined his potential here by scoring exciting victories in the championship and among his victims was the towering Basit Ashfaq whom he delivered the knockout blow in the quarterfinals.

Ashour, the third seed, zoomed into a quick lead in the first game quickly wrapping it up with hard-hitting strokes, making his intentions quite clear.

Amir, a nephew of Jansher appeared to make amends in the second game in which he was well ahead at one stage, yet he let that slip away, allowing Ashour to come back.

Again, any chance of his making a recovery disappeared when he made the same mistake in the third game, throwing away a 5-2 lead as he was unable to control play.

However, the defeat in no way upset Amir, who said that having come this far in the championship, had done his confidence a world of good. "It does help playing against such players."

In the second semifinal, Khalid was never expected to defeat Yasir, a former junior British Open champion and once the match began it followed exactly the same script. Yasir was firing on all cylinders soon after stepping on to the court and he needed just over 30 minutes to put Khalid in place and to book a cherished place in the final.

Khalid was never in the match, barely managing to earn a point in the first game and just two in the second as Yasir showed no mercy in a classy execution of strokes.

There was no let up for poor Khalid who just did not have an answer to his opponent's power play in the third game and in a matter of minutes it was all over.

Sunday's final, which will be preceded by the official opening of the team championship, is to be graced by Prime Minister Ch. Shujaat Hussain.

Results (semifinals):

Ramy Ashour (Egy) bt Amir Atlas (Pak) 9-2, 9-5, 9-6; Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Khalid Atlas 9-1, 9-2, 9-3.

Final (Sunday): Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Ramy Ashour (Egy) at 4.00 pm.