Lalwani makes short work of Ng Kwan Lok

Raju Chainani

HONG KONG, AUG. 11. Naishad Lalwani stole the thunder at the FujiFilm Hong Kong junior squash open with a decisive 9-1, 9-3, 9-5 win over the joint third seed Ng Kwan Lok (Hong Kong) in the boys under-13 quarterfinals.

Lalwani's victory came on a day when Bikram Uberoi (under-19), Vishal Kapoor (under-17), Ishaan Balwani and Vikram Malhotra (under-13) and Alisha Mashruwala (girls under-13) advanced to the semifinals. Lalwani is up against it now as he faces the top seed Adil Maqbool (Pakistan) on Saturday.

In the boys under-19, top seeded Bikram Uberoi beat Jason Lam (Hong Kong) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1. He plays Teng Kean Guan (Malaysia) in the semifinals. Vishal Kapoor, the favourite for the under-17 title, did not allow local lad Dominic Wong to trouble the scorers. His semifinal opponent is the joint third seed, Choi Tung Yin (Hong Kong).

Kapoor's colleague, Anurag Gill, was up against So Pak Hei, a seasoned player, and hard as he tried, it was the Hong Kong player, the joint third seed, who prevailed 9-2, 10-8, 9-4.

Gautam Kalani was beaten 0-9, 0-9, 2-9 by the joint third seed Chiu Shung Hei (Hong Kong) in the boys under-15 quarter-finals. Jay Bhagat was another who bit the dust. He lost 1-9, 0-9, 1-9 to second seed Kapil Nesan (Malaysia) in the boys under-13 quarter- finals. Interestingly, Nisan is coached by K.H. Ong with whom many Mumbai youngsters trained in May.

Ishaan Balwani, the top seed, and Vikram Malhotra, the joint third seed, are through to the semifinals of the boys under-11. Balwani beat Chiu Tsz Chung (Hong Kong) 10-8, 9-0, 9-2 and plays Malhotra on Saturday. Malhotra defeated Ivan Yuen (Malaysia) 9-4, 9-10, 9-3, 9-0.

Jay Dalal, who was seeded at three along with Malhotra, went out in four games to Yip Tsun Yuen, the scoreline being 9-1, 9-5, 4- 9, 9-5 in favour of the later.

Alisha Mashruwala is the only Indian girl participating in the tournament. She is seeded at two in the under-13 category and her 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 drubbing of Poon Ka Yan (Hong Kong) has given her a semifinal berth against another local, Chan Ho Ling.

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