India, Pakistan on collision course for jr Asian crown

Chennai: India and Pakistan are on a collision course in the junior men’s final after both sides topped their respective groups in the Asian Junior Team Squash Championships at the Indian Squash Academy on Friday. India will face Korea while Pakistan will take on Malaysia in the semifinals on Saturday.The Indian junior men’s and women’s teams stood tall in the crunch moments to win their respective group clashes and book their semifinal spots on Friday. While the girls defeated Singapore 3-0 to end at the second position in their group, the boys beat Malaysia 2-1 in a thrilling encounter to finish first in their group.The girls’ team comprising Anahat Singh, Yuvna Gupta and Pooja Arthi R won all three matches against Singapore, but not without resistance from their opponents. Yuvna’s match in particular was a closely fought one, and the Indian was down two match points in the third game after losing the first two, before she dug deep and won the next three games to clinch the tie for India. “After losing the first two games, I tried to change my strategy a little bit and tried to focus on the basics to turn the tide,” Yuvna later told TOI.The boys team faced Malaysia in a gruelling tie that went on for over three hours. After Krishna Mishra lost the first match with a 9-11 11-7 5-11 4-1 scoreline, Shaurya Bawa levelled up the tie with a straight games win. The decider was a roller-coaster affair, and Paarth Ambani eventually prevailed in a tense five-setter to take India to the top of their group.Junior men’s results: Japan beat Singapore 2-1. India beat Malaysia 2-1. Sri Lanka beat Kuwait 3-0. Hong Kong lose to Korea 0-3. Junior women’s results: Japan Women - Korea Women 2-1. India beat Singapore 3-0. Malaysia beat Chinese Taipei 3-0. Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 3-0.