KARACHI: The top four seeds, as expected, cruised into the semi-finals of the US $20,000 14th CNS International Squash Championship at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Thursday.

In all Hong Kong clash fourth seed Henry Leung survived a scare when he accounted for sixth seed Tsz Kwan Lau in an absorbing quarter-final 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5. It turned out to be the longest match of the day that lasted 66 minutes.

Leung is due to meet second seed and lone Pakistani survivor Tayyab Aslam in the second semi-final on Friday after the latter demolished seventh seed Mohammad Syafiq Kamal of Malaysia 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 in another encounter.

Top seed Ivan Yuen from Malaysia struggled to whip sixth seed Egyptian 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 in 48-minute duel and faces another Egyptian and the third seed Mazen Gamal in the first pre-final. Mazen justified his seedings when he gets the better of another Pakistani and fifth seed Asim Khan 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 in 42-minutes.

Results:

Quarter-finals:

Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) bt Moustafa El Sirty (Egypt) 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9; Mazen Gamal (Egypt) bt Asim Khan (Pakistan) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6; Henry Leung (Hong Kong) bt Tsz Kwan Lau (Hong Kong) 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5; Tayyab Aslam (Pakistan) bt Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (Malaysia) 11-7, 11-7, 11-6.

Friday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals: Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) vs Mazen Gamal (Egypt) at 2pm; Henry Leung (Hong Kong) vs Tayyab Aslam (Pakistan) at 3pm.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2020