KARACHI: Aabid Ismail of Sri Lanka won the WESPA Youth Cup 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday. Aabid proved himself to be the best player in the tournament by remaining in the lead position almost throughout the championship warding off a stiff challenge from the Pakistani youth players.

Janul D’Silva, also from Sri Lanka, was the runner up providing only the second incidence in history of the top two position going to the same country after Pakistan in 2013.

Abdullah Abbasi of Pakistan climbed to the No. 1 spot and looked set to take the title but fatigues got the better of him in the end and he lost his last three matches to be contended with the third position. Poor Abdullah suffered a similar fate in 2015 when he slipped at the very last hurdle to finish as the runner up.

Hasham Hadi remained in very good touch throughout the competition and was in a good position to take the title but he, too, lost two of his last three matches; both against fellow Pakistani players.

Sohaib Sanaullah, who spoiled the fun for teammates Abdullah and Hasham by beating them in the final stages, finished fifth after an impressive recovery.

Sohaib’s brother Daniyal Sanaullah, who beat Hasham in the last match finished seventh providing a unique incidence of two brothers finishing in the top 10.

Pakistan also earned the honor of having no less than four players in the top seven.

Sri Lanka edged out Pakistan by the thinnest of margins to take the team trophy for the third time in a row. Pakistan had to be contended with the second position for the fourth time in a row after being number one in 2013.

Hasham Hadi won the prize for the top player in the under-14 age category. Sohaib Sanaullah was the runner up in the under-16 category while Saim Usmani and Misbah ur Rehman remained third in the under 12 and under 10 categories, respectively.

Overall it was a superb performance by the Pakistan team at the toughest youth championship in the world with eight of the 10 players in the team finishing in the top half.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2017