Indian boys in finals of Asian Junior Team Squash c''ship

New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) The Indian boys came up with aspirited display against their Malaysian counterparts tocruise into the finals while the girls suffered a humiliating0-2 defeat against top seed Hong Kong in the semis of theAsian Junior Team Squash championships currently underway inColombo.

In the last-four stage, the boys team led by top seedRamit Tandon made short work of his Malaysian counterpartMuhammad Zul Azri 11-5 11-7 11-2 to give India a vital lead.

Displaying his superior racket skills and finishingabilities, Tandon made Azri run to all four corners of thecourt before pocketing the game. Although very quick inmovement, Azri was not able to retrieve all that was thrown athim.

In the next encounter, Mahesh Mangaonkar completed thevictory for India with a clinical display against MalaysianSanjay Singh. The Indian won 11-8 11-1 11-4.

Apart from the first game, Mahesh convincingly scoreddead drops for winners and engaged his rival in long ralliesto great effect.

On their way to the finals, India defeated fancied Japanin the quarterfinals while got better of Jordan, Hong Kong,Iran and Singapore in the pool stage.

In the finals, India will play arch-rivals and top seedPakistan.

Meanwhile, the Indian girls had to content themselveswith a bronze medal finish after losing their semifinal clashto top seed Hong Kong.

In the first meeting, Anaka Alankamony went down 5-115-11 8-11 in straight games to Tong Tsz Wing while AparajithaBalamurukan lost 5-11 6-11 5-11 to Lee Ka Yi.

In the pool stage, the Indian trio of Alankamony,Balamurukan and Saumya Karki had defeated Sri Lanka and Chinabut lost their all-important final pool match to Malaysia 1-2.