ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: Pakistan retained the boys teams event title with a 2-1 victory over Kuwait in the final of the 12th Asian Junior squash championship, according to reports available here from Chennai (India) on Friday.

Pakistan's Aqib Hanif and Bilal Zaman both won their matches while Aamir Atlas Khan was beaten, according to brief results. Earlier, Pakistan beat India 2-1 while Kuwait knocked out Hong Kong by the same margin in the semi-finals on Thursday to book their respective berths in the final.

Aqib Hanif gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the semi-final against India by beating Harinderpal Singh 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 before Saurav Ghosal restored parity for India with a surprise 9-5, 9-1, 9-2 triumph over Aamir Atlas Khan who had captured the individual boys crown by beating the same Indian rival in the final earlier in this championship.

Bilal Zaman, however, rose to the occasion with a 9-6, 9-4, 9-4 victory over Sandeep Jangra in the deciding match of the semi-final tie to guide Pakistan into the final.

Kuwait won their first two matches to take a decisive 2-0 edge over Hong Kong and could even afford a walkover to their rivals in the third match of the second semi-final tie.

Salem F. Muhammad beat Max Lee 9-7, 10-8, 6-9, 9-4 while Abdullah Al-Mezayen put aside Chiu Ho Fai 9-2, 9-1, 9-0 before Ali B. Al-Ramzi chose to give walkover to Hong Kong's Anson Kwong.

Meanwhile, Pakistani women finished sixth in the women's team event after losing to Sri Lanka who won fifth position. Malaysia won the final, beating Singapore who ended up as runners-up while Hong Kong and India got third and fourth places respectively.

Sara Awan defeated Randima Ranaweera of Sri Lanka 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 to give Pakistan lead against Sri Lanka but then Maria Toor and Aliya Sarfraz both lost to their respective Sri Lankan rivals.

Nirasha Guruge beat Maria Toor 9-3, 9-4, 5-9, 9-1 while Vidushi Gurunadha had the better of Aliya Sarfraz 6-9, 9-0, 6-9, 9-6, 9-7 in a five-game gruelling encounter. -APP