ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: Yasir Butt Tuesday ended the fine run of top seed Safeerullah Khan in a quality semifinal between the junior British Open champions, scoring a four games victory on the third day of the 11th Asian Junior Squash Championship at the Roshan Khan Complex.

In the final set for Wednesday, Yasir will play Farhan Mahboob, who eliminated Shah Nawaz, also in four games, in the second prefinal of the day.

The girls decider, also to be contested Wednesday will feature Indian players Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy both of whom won four-game semifinals against Hong Kong players Chan Ho Ling and Chu Ka Kai respectively.

However, it was the match between Yasir, the under-17 winner of the British title last month and Safeerullah who had captured the same crown in the under-19 age bracket, that had all the ingredients of a quality semifinal.

Although Safeerullah won the first game he made several unforced errors during the course of the match that proved costly as Yasir, playing with confidence hit back to win the next three games and wrapped up the match 8-10, 9-6, 9-1, 9-7.

The two players were on court for over 80 minutes and Yasir, with superior reach had a clear edge over his opponent who was the pre-tournament favourite to take the crown.

But whatever hopes he had of wearing that crown were dashed by the talented Yasir, who had made it to the semis by defeating India’s Saurav Ghosal in Tuesday’s quarterfinal.

His opponent in the final, Farhan Mahboob, needed about an hour to knock out Shah Nawaz 6-9, 9-6, 9-6, 10-8 in the other semifinal that was no less exciting.

Buoyant after downing second seed Khalid Atlas in quarterfinal, Farhan took time to settle down and did not seem too bothered after dropping the first game in which he led 6-0 at one stage.

The girls semifinals saw Joshna quickly taking control against Chan by clinching the first two games without putting in much of an effort. However, she dropped a close third game before taking the fourth to seal the fate of her opponent 9-1, 9-3, 7-9, 9-3 in a mere 31 minutes.

Vaidehi the other Indian girl in the prefinal took a little more time than Joshna as she defeated Chu in almost identical fashion. Claiming the opening two games, she lost the third before capturing the fourth for a 9-4, 9-4, 9-10, 9-3 victory.

Results (Boys semifinals): Yasir Butt (Pak) bt Safeerullah Khan 8-10, 9-6, 9-1, 9-7; Farhan Mahboob (Pak) bt Shah Nawaz 6-9, 9-6, 9-6, 10-8.

Girls semifinals: Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Chan Ho Ling (HKG) 9-1, 9-3, 7-9, 9-3; Vaidehi Reddy (Ind) bt Chu Ka Kai (HKG) 9-4, 9-4, 9-10, 9-3.