Mohammed Mustafa enters Heyball National Championships Under-19 semifinals

Karnataka's Mohammed Mustafa advanced to the junior boys' Under-19 semifinals of the Heyball National Championships with a 5-2 victory over Aagam Gangwal. Defending girls' champion Natasha Chethan also entered the semifinals after defeating Telangana's Leisha Reddy 4-0

Hyderabad: Promising Mohammed Mustafa of Karnataka powered into the junior boys’ (Under-19) semifinals of the second Heyball National Championships in Dehradun on Tuesday evening.

Mustafa scored a convincing 5-2 victory over Aagam Gangwal to set up a semifinal meeting with another Madhya Pradesh cueist, Aatif Ansari. The latter defeated Punjab’s Hira by the same margin in the other quarterfinal.

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Mustafa, India’s No. 3 in sub-junior billiards, was largely untroubled in his comfortable victory. The 13-year-old had earlier defeated his statemate, Jayad Aarav, 5-2 in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the other semifinal, reigning champion Aarav Sancheti of Maharashtra will take on Arnav Sharma of Himachal Pradesh. While Sancheti overcame Karnataka’s Karan Sheshadri 5-3, Sharma prevailed over S Mohd Moin of Gujarat in a shootout.

In the girls’ section, defending champion Natasha Chethan of Karnataka hardly broke a sweat in her 4-0 win over Telangana’s Leisha Reddy in the quarterfinals. Natasha will take on Delhi’s Aleina Khanna, who defeated Harleen Kaur 3-0 in another quarterfinal. Also making the semifinals were Gianna Rego of Maharashtra and Padmakshee C of Tamil Nadu.

Results (Quarterfinals):

Boys: Mohammed Mustafa (Kar) bt Aagam Gangwal (MP) 5-2; Aatif Ansari (MP) bt Hira (Pun) 5-2; Aarav Sancheti (Mah) bt Karan Sheshadri (Kar) 5-3; Arnav Sharma (HP) bt S Mohd Moin (Guj) in a shootout.

Girls: Natasha Chethan (Kar) bt Leisha Reddy (Tel) 4-0; Aleina Khanna (Del) bt Harleen Kaur (Pun) 3-0; Gianna Rego (Mah) bt Usha Jyothi (AP) 4-2; Padmakshee C (TN) bt Angel Kamboj (Har) 4-1.