India seal victory over arch-rivals Pakistan to setup Iran final

Denzil Pinto 08:43 26/05/2016
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  • India's Aditya Metha in action.

    Individual champion Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta combined to firstly knock out the UAE 3-0 in the quarter-final, before repeating the feat over their neighbours.

    Their 3-0 (73-16, 83-25, 92-8) triumph came over Pakistan’s No1 Muhammad Asif and Asjad Iqbal.

    Mehta, 30, was delighted to reach Thursday’s final (starting 2pm) and insists he and his teammate stuck to their game plan.

    “Their (Pakistan’s) strength is long potting and our focus was on safety,” he said. “We had a safe approach and made them take risks. Pankaj forced them to make mistakes. We made them try balls that they don’t want to take.

    “All the Pakistan players are lovely guys. We are good friends off the table. But in India-Pakistan semi-finals, you want to be on the winning side of the table.

    “We just need to enjoy the game against Iran and believe in ourselves that we can win.”

    They will come up against an Iranian team that defeated Malaysia in another one-sided encounter.

    After teaming up with Amir Sarkhosh for the 3-0 (72-12, 70-41, 64-39) win, Soheil Vahedi admits they will need to up their game against the Indians.

    “We came through a very tight match, even though the scoreline said it was 3-0,” said the 27-year-old. “For sure, the final will be a tough match because India are a very strong team with two very good players.”

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