Abbas, Haris in third round of World Junior Squash Championship
Abbas Zeb trashed Elijah Thomas of New Zealand by 3-0 in U-19 while Haris Qasim defeated Andres Villamizar of Colombia by 3-2 to move into third round of the World Junior Individual Squash Championship in the indian city of Chennai.
Abbas Zeb thrashed Elijah Thomas of New Zealand in straight games by 3-0 in the second round. He had beaten Murray Schepers of South Africa earlier in the first round by 11-6, 11-4, 11-3.
Abbas Zeb produced a skillful game to prove his metal as he won the first game by 11-6. Abbas engaged Thomas in rallies and did not allow him to play freely as Abbas won the second game with a comfortable margin of 7 points at 11-4. In the third game Pakistani played confidently and dominated the play to win it by 11-3.
Today Abbas will face 9/12th seed Matias Knudsen of Colombia in the third round.
Meanwhile Haris overpowered Andres Villamizar of Colombia in a tough five games battle by 3-2. Haris managed to win the first game by 13-11. In the 2nd game Haris put up his best effort by reaching to all corners and playing some good shots and comprehensively won the game by 11-4. Colombian player then came back strongly to shrug off the first and second game deficit as he won the 3rd and 4th game by 11-7,11-7. A do-or-die for both players clearly started fifth game as a battle of the fittest, with Haris stepping up the pace of the game and Andres fitness clearly not a match with signs of fatigue clearly visible as a result Haris won it by 11-7.
Haris will take on 5/8th seed Leonel Cardenas of Mexico in the third round.
However, Gabe Yam of New Zealand won against Farhan Hashmi 11-8, 11-9, 14-12 in the second round. Farhan had defeated Ahmad Al-Muraikhi of Qatar 11-2, 11-1, 11-7 in the first round.
Similarly, Sam Todd of England beat Mohamamd Uzair, ranked 124 in world junior circuit, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9 in the second round. Uzair had prevailed over Leo Fatialofa of New Zealand 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 in the first round.
Hafiz Zhafri of Malaysia beat Pakistan’s Uzair Shaukat 11-5, 6-11, 12-10, 11-5 and Utkarsh Baheti of India defeated Asadullah Khan 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4 in the first round.
Pakistan will feature in the Team Championship also after this individual event.
