KARACHI, Nov 4: Except for a minor upset, there were no major surprises as seeded players lived up to their reputation by storming into the semi-finals of the CNS International Squash Championship at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex on Tuesday.

Fifth seed Yasir Butt, ranked 52nd in the world, ended the pretensions of fourth seed and world No 41 Kashif Shuja in a duel that lasted almost an hour.

Yasir, who won the opener against qualifier Waqar Mehboob in just 22 minutes, had to struggle in overcoming his opponent 11-9, 11-1, 6-11, 11-9.

He is drawn to meet second seed Amir Atlas Khan who ended the winning run of qualifier Safeerullah Khan after imposing a 11-1, 11-7, 12-10 victory in half an hour.

Safeer had created a stir when he got the better of eighth seed Majid Khan in straight games on Monday.

Top seed and last year’s runner-up Farhan Mehboob will be up against third seed Mansoor Zaman in the other semi-final after both notched victories in contrasting style.

The former, who is ranked 29th on the world, proved his mettle as he came out of the court in just 16 minute after emerging 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 victorious against New Zealand’s Martin Knight, the ninth seed and world No 92nd.

Martin’s fellow countryman and seventh seed Campbell Grayson made unceremonious exit the other day when he was toppled by qualifier Amjad Khan in a five-game thriller.

Mansoor, who has been runner-up twice of the CNS championship in 2003 and 2006 kept his nerves despite trailing 1-2 to register 11-13, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7 victory against Amjad in 53 minutes.

The match turned out to be exciting as both the players fought on even kneel.

Results:

Quarter-finals:

Farhan Mehboob (Pakistan) bt Martin Knight (New Zealand) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5; Mansoor Zaman (Pakistan) bt Amjad Khan (Pakistan) 11-13, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7; Yasir Butt (Pakistan) bt Kashif Shuja (Pakistan) 11-9, 11-1, 6-11, 11-9; Amir Atlas (Pakistan) bt Safeerullah Khan (Pakistan) 11-1, 11-7, 12-10.

Wednesday’s semi-final fixtures:

Farhan Mehboob v Mansoor Zaman at 3.00pm; Yasir Butt v Amir Atlas at 4.00pm