September 07, 2007	Friday	Sha'aban 24, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 6: Three home players including a qualifier were among the four who stormed into the semi-finals of the eighth Chief of Naval Staff International Squash Championship after emerging victorious at the PN Roshan-Jahangir Squash Complex on Thursday.

Qualifier Yasir Butt continued his giant killing run when he sent 11th seed Australian Bradley Hindle packing in straight sets.

Fresh from his triumph over fourth seed Liam Kenny from Ireland on Wednesday, he crossed another hurdle by overcoming his Australian opponent 11-7, 11-9, 11-10 in 25-minutes.

A tough task awaits Yasir as he is drawn to meet top seed and world No 11 Karim Darwish from Egypt in the second semi-final on Friday.

Karim had a smooth sailing over sixth seed Shahid Zaman, runner-up to Malaysian Ong Beng Hee in 2004, as he came out of the court smiling in just 18 minutes.

The Egyptian gave no room to world No 48 and was quick to wrap up the match 11-2, 11-6, 11-3.

Karim had landed the title in 2002 when he edged Mohammad Abbas in an all-Egyptian final.

Giving yet another scintillating performance, the seventh seed Farhan Mehboob toppled third seed Aamir Atlas Khan in four sets.

He conceded the second set on his way to winning the battle 11-3, 10-11, 11-8, 11-7 in 46 minutes.

Farhan is slated to face the second seed and three-time runner-up, Mansoor Zaman, who accounted for The Netherlands’ fifth seed Dylan Bennett 11-7, 11-7, 11-4 in 26 minutes.

Results: (quarter-finals)

Karim Darwish (Egy) bt Shahid Zaman (Pak) 11-2, 11-6, 11-3; Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Bradley Hindle (Aus) 11-7, 11-9, 11-10; Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) 11-3, 10-11, 11-8, 11-7; Mansoor Zaman (Pak) bt Dylan Bennett (Ned) 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.

Friday’s fixtures: (semi-finals)

Farhan Mehboob (Pak) v Mansoor Zaman (Pak) 3.00pm; Karim Darwish (Egy) v Yasir Butt (Pak) 4.00pm.