National No 2 Ivan Yuen stayed on track for his first title of the year after reaching the semi-finals of the CNS International Squash Championships in Karachi yesterday.
Ivan, the top seed, defeated Egyptian youngster Moustafa Elsirty 11-6, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9 in his quarter-final match.
The 29-year-old, who had whipped Pakistan’s Israr Ahmed in the second round on Wednesday, stayed on top of his game to take a 2-0 lead.
British Junior Open Under-19 champion Moustafa, who won last month’s Airport Challenger in Berlin, showed some brilliance to take the third game 11-6.
But Ivan was not to be denied as he stayed calm to seal his spot in the last four after 48 minutes.
The World No 48, whose last title was the SRFI Indian Tour in Chennai last October, plays another Egyptian in third seed Mazen Gamal for a place in the final.
The 34-year-old Mazen came through by beating Pakistan’s fifth seed Asim Khan 12-10, 11-9, 11-6.
However, it was the end of the road for national No 3 Syafiq Kamal.
The World No 86 was far from his best as he lost 11-7, 11-7, 11-6 to second seed Tayyab Aslam of Pakistan in his last-eight match.