ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Pakistan’s Under-19 Junior British Open champion Safeerullah Khan needed just over half an hour in downing Salem Fayez Muhammed of Kuwait in straight games to make a swift start to the Nokia 11th Asian Junior Squash Championship that opened on Sunday.

Given a first round bye in the individual event, the talented Safeerullah was just too good and faced no problem in knocking out his opponent 9-3, 9-1, 9-5 at the Roshan Khan Complex.

Yasir Butt, another Pakistani, who won the under-17 Junior British Open last month, had little time for Malaysia’s Fabian Faurillo showing him the door with a 9-3, 9-1, 9-0 win in just 30 minutes.

However, the going was not all that easy for Shah Nawaz, the third home player in the second round. He dropped the first game against Anson K Wong of Hong Kong in a 38-minute match but recovered to score a 3-9, 9-5, 9-1, 10-8 victory.

Pakistani Aaqib Hanif’s match against Hong Kong’s Dick Lau followed a similar pattern as he lost the first game only to bounce back for a 4-9, 9-7, 9-3, 9-4 win that came in 33 minutes.

After a tough first game, Pakistan’s Basit Ashfaq got his act together to defeat India’s Gaurav Nandragog 10-8, 9-2, 9-2 while Khalid Atlas, this year’s Junior British Open semifinalist was a 9-6, 9-6, 9-7 victor over Kuwait’s Abdullah Al Mezayin.

Haider Jamal Zafar however could not make it beyond the second round and was ousted by M. Shahril of Malaysia 5-9, 9-5, 8-10, 1-9 while Vincent Yu earned a walkover against Alamzeb Khan.

As expected, the local girls however were unable to impress, all five of them being beaten in the first round of the individual event. Sarah Awan lost to Malaysia’s Shenny Ong 4-9, 6-9, 5-9 while Muqaddas Ashraf, although managing to win a game against her Indian rival Shrui Reddy, capitulated 1-9, 9-2, 2-9, 1-9.

Maria Toor Pakay was sent crashing in just 16 minutes by Sally L. of Malaysia 3-9, 0-9, 2-9 while Alia Sarfraz became a victim of Natalie So from Hong Kong, falling 0-9, 2-9, 2-9 in a match that lasted only 14 minutes. Koh Kar Yan of Singapore then completed the rout of the home girls breezing past Saima Shaukat 9-3, 9-5, 9-2 in less than half an hour.

Boys individual (first round): Safeerullah Khan (Pak) bye; Salem Fayez Mohd (kuw) bt Kavin Jayawardene (SL) 9-1, 9-3, 9-0; Patric Choi (HKG) bye; Nafzahizam (Mal) bye; Timothy Arnold (Mal) bye; Shezan Zahir (SL) walkover against Karamatullah (Pak); Bilal Zaman (Pak) bt Sean Ang (Sin 9-2, 9-1, 9-3; Bader Al Hussain (Kuw) bye; Saurav G hosal (Ind) bye; Harin Perrera (SL) bye; Alam Zeb Khan (Pak) bye; Vincent Yu (HKG) bye; Supreet Singh (Ind) bye; Nasser Bader Ramezi (Kuw) bt Rizwan Ahmed (Pak) 9-3, 9-6, 9- 2; Fabian Faurillo (Mal) bt M. Weerasuriya 9-1, 9-0, 9-1; Yasir Butt (Pak) bye; Siddarth Schude (Ind) bye; Ali Bader Al Ramezi (Kuw) bye; Haider Jamal Zaffar (Pak) bye; Mohd Shahril (Mal) bye; D ick Lau (HKG) bye; Aqib Hanif (Pak) bt Shaun Low (Sin) 9-0, 9- 0, 9-0; Anson Kwing (HKG) bt Vinayak Shetty (Ind) 9-1, 0-9, 9-0, 9-1; Shah Nawaz (Pak) bye; Farhan Mahboob (Pak) bye; Kenneth Chan (Sin) bye; Basit Ashfaq (Pak) bye; Vivian Rahmanan (Sin) bye; Vikas Jangra (Ind) bye; Abdullah Al Mezayin (Kuw) bt Richard Hill (Sin) 9-1, 9-1, 9-3; Khalid ATlas (Pak) bye.