New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Aryaveer Dewan (boys’ U-19), Shiven Agarwal (boys’ U-17), Anika Dubey (girls’ U-17), and Amarya Bajaj (boys’ U-13) advanced to the finals in their respective categories at the 33rd Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships in Panzhihua, China, on Saturday.

Aryaveer, seeded 3/4, defeated Malaysian top seed Nickhileswar Moganasundharam in four games in the semifinals and will meet either Md Alnasafan (KSA) or Jonghyeok Lee (Kor) for the crown. Aryaveer had beaten the Malaysian for the U-17 title last year.

Meanwhile, Shiven, seeded 5/8, beat fellow Indian Squash Academy trainee Lokesh Subramani in a close four-game semifinal and will take on Pakistan’s 9/16 seed Nauman Khan for the U-17 title.

Anika, seeded 3/4 and bronze medallist in this age group last year, will battle with Malaysian top seed Harleein Tan for the U-17 crown after her semifinal opponent retired midway through their match.

Amarya, seeded 3/4 and bronze medallist in the boys’ U-13 category last year, beat Malaysian second seed Muhammad Sharhan Mohd Saiful in four close games in the semifinals. He will take on top seed Leung Ngo San of Hong Kong in the U-13 final.

Results involving Indians (semifinals):

U-19 Boys: 3/4-Aryaveer Dewan bt 1-Nickhileswar Moganasundharam (Mas) 11-6, 11-4, 3-11, 11-6.

U-17 — Boys: 5/8-Shiven Agarwal bt 5/8-Lokesh Subramani 4-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9. Girls: 3/4-Anika Dubey bt 2-Jinoreeka Ning Manivannan (Mas) 9-11, 3-2 retd.

U-13 —Boys: 1-Leung Ngo San (HK) bt 3/4-Abhyuday Arora 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4; 3/4-Amarya Bajaj bt 2-Muhammad Sharhan Mohd Saiful (Mas) 11-9, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8. Girls: 1-Kareena Sashikumar (Sgp) bt 3/4-Shanaya Parasrampuria 11-5, 11-6, 13-11; 3/4-Rio Yoshino (Jpn) bt 2-Divyanshi Jain 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10.

–IANS

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