01 October 2004	Friday	15 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Sept 30: Seventeen-year-old Kirati Siri but wong of Thailand, top seeded in the Karachi Club ITF junior tennis championship, sailed into the semifinals , when he beat Ejaz Mohammad Usman from Pakistan in two straight sets on the hard courts of the Karachi Club on Thursday.

The hard hitting Thai, however, had to bring out all the tricks in the bag to overcome Ejaz, who although going down 6-3, 6-1, put up tremendous resistance unlike what the scoreline suggests.

But Kirati's 14-year-old brother Peerakit, seeded at No.7, was not so fortunate. The youngster taking on the second seed Jitin Bishnoi from India, went down 6-3, 6-4, after being tied 3-3 in the first set and leading 3-2 in the second.

In a match which lasted three and half hours, sixth seeded Gursher Harika caused a mild upset when he toppled third seed Vijit Sehgal in three gruelling sets to make a triumphant entry into the last four.

Both players blessed with big serves laced with forceful forehand and backhand drives, were tied 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, before Gursher broke Vijit's serve and then with service advantage won the first set 7-5.

Stung into action, Vijit changing tactics with drop shots and volleys picked up the second set 6-3 to draw abreast 1-1. With sweat pouring down from both players Gursher took the early advantage in the final set and although Vijit tried desperately hard to catch up with his opponent, luck evaded him.

Committing unforced errors when it mattered most, Vijit was forced to bow out, losing the final set and match 6-4. Yasir Khan, the younger brother of Aqeel Khan was Pakistan's last hope of reaching the last four. Although he matched the fourth seeded Indian lad Kinshuk Sharma stroke for stroke, Yasir was unlucky to lose 6-4 in the first set which could have swung either way. But the second set was a different cup of tea altogether. Bracing themselves for another gruelling set the tennis fans were disappointed as Yasir lost the set and match without picking up a game.

Top seeds Amita Arudpragasam (Sri Lanka) and Su Chit Yee (Myanmar) were awarded a walkover in the girls doubles semifinals against Naima Mukhtar and Rabia Parveen, when one of Pakistani girls failed to turn up.

Amita and Su will now take on the second seeded Indian pair of Inayat Khosla and Alisha Talwar, who beat Sara Mansoor and Aley Zehra Mehdi 6-1, 6-2, after the Pakistani girls tried their level best to stop their much superior rivals in their tracks.

The matches continue on Friday from 2.00 p.m. with the Boys singles semifinals, the girls singles semifinals and the Boys doubles semifinals to be contested.

Following were the results:

JUNIORS SINGLES (QUARTERFINALS) : Kirati Siributwong (Thailand) bt Ejaz Mohammad Usman 6-3, 6-1; Kinshuk Sharma (India) bt Yasir Khan 6-4, 6-0; Jitin Bishnoi (India) bt Peerakit Siributwong (Thailand) 6-3, 6-4; Gursher Harika (India) bat Vikit Seghal (India) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

GIRLS DOUBLES (SEMIFINALS) : Amita Arudpragasam (Sri Lanka)/Su Chit Yee (Mynamar) w/o Naima Mukhtar/ Rabia Parveen;Inayat Khosla/Alisha Talwar (India) bt Sara Mansoor/Aley Zehra Mehdi 6-1, 6-2.

Fixtures for Friday

BOYS SINGLES (SEMIFINALS) : Kirati Siributwong (Thailand) v Kinshuk Sharma (India); Jitin Bishnoi (India) v Gursher Harika (India).

GIRLS SINGLES (SEMIFINALS) : Amita Arudpragsam (Sri Lanka) v Alisha Talwar (India); Su Chit Yee (Mynamar) v Inayat Khosla (India).

BOYS DOUBLES (SEMIFINALS) : Kirati Siributwong/Peerakit Siributwong (Thailand) v Rajkhanwar Singh/ Gursher Harika (India); Vijit Sehgal (India)/Neil Rajpal (Canada) v Kinshuk Sharma/Jitin Bishnoi (India).