Teenager Butt Triumphs In Qualifier Battle In Peshawar

Up-and-coming Pakistan star Yasir Butt claimed a place in the semi-finals of the CAS International today when he beat compatriot and fellow qualifier Safeer Ullah Khan in four games at the Army Squash Complex in Peshawar.

After winning the British Junior U17 Open title at the beginning of the year, the 16-year-old from Lahore reached the World Junior (U19) Championship final in his home country in August. Butt beat Khan - winner of this year's U19 British Open title in Sheffield - 11-10 11-5 8-11 11-9 in 36 minutes to set up a semi-final clash with No2 seed Ong Beng Hee.

The Malaysian defeated Egypt's Mohamed Essam A Hafiz in straight games - but it took the former world No7 from Kuala Lumpur 44 minutes to secure his 11-8 11-6 11-8 victory.

The other semi-final will also feature a Pakistan/Malaysia clash as top seed Mansoor Zaman, the 2001 CAS International champion from Peshawar, takes on Mohd Azlan Iskandar, the third seed from Sarawak. Zaman was taken to five games by Egypt's Hisham Mohd Ashour before beating the fifth seed 6-11 11-6 11-8 10-11 11-9 in 48 minutes, while Iskandar ended Mansoor's cousin Farrukh Zaman's CAS campaign with a 11-10 11-8 11-8 defeat in 39 minutes.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Mansoor Zaman (PAK) bt [5] Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 6-11, 11-6, 11-8, 10-11, 11-9 (48m)
[3] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) bt [7] Farrukh Zaman (PAK) 11-10, 11-8, 11-8 (39m)
[Q] Yasir Butt (PAK) bt [Q] Safeer Ullah Khan (PAK) 11-10, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9 (36m)
[2] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [8] Mohamed Essam A Hafiz (EGY) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8 (44m)