KARACHI, Sept 10: Pakistan qualifier Khayal Muhammad’s gallant run in the International squash championship finally came to a halt in the semifinals when he lost against favourite Azlan Iskandar of Malaysia in Kolkata on Friday night.

According to details made available here, top seed Azlan raced through his semifinal in just 24 minutes to claim a place in the final of the championship but third seed Shahier Razik took almost four times longer to pull off his impressive five-game upset over Australia’s No2 seed Cameron Pilley to reserve the other place in the climax of the new PSA Tour event.

Iskandar, the world No. 15 from Malaysia, was in impressive form as he brushed aside Khayal 11-4, 11-7, 11-0 to reach his 11th PSA Tour final.

The Sarawak-born 23-year-old is looking for his seventh Tour title, and his second in three weeks after picking up the PNG International crown in Papua New Guinea last month. Iskandar is in his first final in India since winning the Asian junior championship title in Chennai in 2001.

Canadian Razik, who lost to Pilley in their two PSA meetings over the past twelve months, was determined to prevent an Australian hat trick. But Pilley led 7-0 in the fifth game and looked comfortably poised to win.

However, the 22-year-old from Queensland suddenly started cramping and found the going difficult as Razik moved him around the court. After losing serve just once at 4-7, Razik did not look back, ultimately winning 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8.

Like Iskandar, the 27-year-old from Toronto also arrived in India with an August PSA Tour title victory under his belt.

The winner of the Santa Barbara Open in the USA now celebrates his 16th PSA final appearance, and is one match away from his 10th trophy.

Semi-final results:

Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt Khayal Muhammad Khan (PAK) 11-4, 11-7, 11-0 (24m); Shahier Razik (CAN) bt Cameron Pilley (AUS) 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 (90m).—PPI