GUANGZHOU, Nov 20 Pakistan's Aamir Atlas Khan produced a sterling performance here on Saturday when the country's top-ranked player overwhelmed defending champion Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia in the singles semi-final of the Asian Games squash.

In the title clash Aamir, who recorded a well-deserved 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13 win over Hee, will play Malaysia's Mohamad Azlan Iskandar who overpowered India's Saurav Ghosal 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10 in the other semi-final.

Aamir's magnificent win has given a ray of hope to the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), run by Pakistan Air Fore, which has been investing heavily on the development of promising young players for more than a decade.

Aamir, the 20-year-old leading national player, also had the opportunity to defeat world No 1 Gregory Gaultier last year at the Qatar Classic tournament.

“I was very much confident right from the first game and tried to give no roam to Hee,” Aamir told Dawn after the match. “I am happy and now my target is to win gold medal for Pakistan.”

“It was not just luck,” Aamir cleared up, when asked whether his surprising win over Hee was an upset. “It was the fourth game where we both put in our best and the one who did not falter lifted the game.”

Pakistan had last won its individual squash gold in the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan.

Aamir added that the win over Hee had made him more confident and predicted a tough final against world No 15 Azlan Iskandar. “I will go all out against Azlan,” said Aamir.

Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Faheem Gul said “In the Sunday's final which will be played in the evening [2pm PST], we are expecting a favourable result [for Aamir].”

Malaysian fans, mostly young athletes, present at the venue were stunned by the upset created by Aamir, a nephew of legendary Jansher Khan.

Results
Men's (semi-finals)

Mohamad Azlan Iskandar (Malaysia) bt Saurav Ghosal (India) 11-5, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10; Aamir Atlas Khan (Pakistan) bt Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia) 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 15-13.

Women's (semi-finals)

Nicol David (Malaysia) bt Low Wee Wern (Malaysia) 11-9, 11-3, 11-4; Annie Au (Hong Kong) bt Chan Ho Lang (Hong Kong) 11-7, 2-11, 11-9, 11-9.