KARACHI, May 21: Unseeded Farhan Zaman, a scion of Peshawar’s Zaman clan, on Wednesday inched closer to capturing his maiden boys’ under-19 crown when he recovered from two set down to turn the tables on top seed Shoaib Hassan from Punjab in the semi-final of Roshan Khan Junior Open Squash Championship.

A nephew of former British Open champion Qamar Zaman, Farhan displayed the qualities of a champion as he romped home 0-9, 8-9, 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 in almost an hour at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan squash complex.

Farhan, a former British junior under-15 champion, virtually ruled the last three sets and gave no room to his opponent to settle.

He is slated to meet third seed Waqar Mehboob (PAF) who in the other pre-final, squeezed past Bilal Khan in four games.

Waqar, the losing semi-finalist of Asian Junior Squash in Hong Kong last year, won 9-3, 8-10, 9-7, 9-0 in 50-minutes.

Third seed Waqas matched his elder brother Waqar’s performance by marching into the boys under-17 final following an upset 9-4, 9-7, 8-10, 5-9, 9-7 victory over top seed Aurangzeb Mehmond.He takes on second seed Raees Khan who got the better of fourth seed Haroon Samad 9-7, 9-1, 7-9, 9-6.

Both Waqar and Waqas are maternal nephews of former squash great Jansher Khan and currently represents the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

The boys’ under-15 final will be an all-PAF affair as top seed Nasir Iqbal and unseeded Faraz Khan won their respective semi-finals.

Nasir, a former British junior under-13 champion, subdued Rizwan Gul 9-2, 9-0, 9-0, Faraz accounted for Saad Shahid 9-1, 9-1, 9-6.

Top seed Zoya Khalid continued her winning run when she accounted for Andleeb Younas 9-0, 9-3, 9-6. She is drawn to face Aliya Sarfaraz who brought down Roshana Mehboob to earth registering 4-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-4 victory.

The latter had toppled the second seed Hina Bashir in the first round match on Tuesday.

Zoya, Aliya and Roshana had represented the country at the Asian junior competition in Hong Kong last year.

Top seed Riffat Khan and second seed Habiba Khan qualified to meet each other in the girls’ under-15 final. The former beat Ayesha Zafar 9-0, 9-0, 9-2, while the latter blanked Mahrukh Shaikh 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

The curtain falls on the four-day championship on Thursday. President, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) who also heads Pakistan Sports Trust (PST) will grace the closing ceremony.

Semi-final results:

Boys’ under-19: Farhan Zaman (PN) bt Shoaib Hassan (Punjab)0-9, 8-9, 9-1, 9-1, 9-1; Waqar Mehboob (PAF) bt M. Bilal Khan (NWFP) 9-3, 8-10, 9-7, 9-0.

Boys under–17: Waqas Mehboob (PAF) bt Aurangzeb Mehmond (Punjab) 9-4, 9-7, 8-10, 5-9, 9-7; Raees Khan (PAF) bt Haroon Samad (Punjab) 9-7, 9-1, 7-9, 9-6.

Boys’ under-15: Nasir Iqbal (PAF) bt Rizwan Gul (PAF) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0;

Faraz Khan (PAF) bt Saad Shahid (Sindh) 9-1, 9-1, 9-6.

Boys’ under-13: Ali Bukhari (Punjab) bt Abdullah Bashir (Punjab) 9-2, 9-0, 9-0; Tayyab Aslam (Punjab) bt Ali Nasir (NWFP) 8-10, 4-9, 9-6, 9-2, 9-2.

Boys’ under-11: Israr Ahmed (Punjab) bt Talha Alam (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Imam Sher Khan (Punjab) bt Kabeer Alam (Sindh) 9-2, 2-9, 9-2, 9-1.

Girls’ under-19: Zoya Khalid (Punjab) bt Andleeb Younas (Punjab) 9-0, 9-3, 9-6; Aliya Sarfaraz (Punjab) bt Roshana Mehboob (Punjab) 4-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-4.

Girls’ under-15: Riffat Khan (Punjab) bt Ayesha Zafar (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-2; Habiba Khan (Sindh) bt Mahrukh Shaikh (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

Thursday’s fixtures: (all finals)

Boys’ under-11: Israr Ahmed (Punjab) v Imam Sher Khan (Punjab) at 9.00am.

Boys’ under-13: Ali Bukhari (Punjab) v M. Tayyab Aslam (Punjab) at 9.40am.Girls’ under-15: Riffat Khan (Punjab) v Habiba Khan (Sindh) at 10.20am.

Boys’ under-15: Nasir Iqbal (PAF) v Faraz Khan (PAF) at 11.00am. Boys’ under-17: Waqas Mehboob (PAF) v Raees Khan (PAF) at 11.40am.

Girls’ under-19: Zoya Khalid (Punjab) v Aliya Sarfaraz (Punjab) at 12.20pm.

Boys’ under-19: Farhan Zaman (PN) v Waqar Mehboob (PAF) at 2.30pm.