Mustafa powers into semis, Natasha to meet Aleina in last four of Heyball Nationals

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

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

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.

Natasha annihilates Telangana’s Leisha

In the girls’ section, defending champion Natasha Chethan of Karnataka hardly broke a sweat in her 4-0 annihilation of Telangana’s Leisha Reddy in the quarterfinals. Natasha will take on Delhi’s Aleina Khanna, who defeated Harleen Kaur 3-0 in another last-eight clash.

Also making the semifinals were Gianna Rego of Maharashtra and Padmakshee C of Tamil Nadu.

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

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