Yasin Merchant in last four

Top seed Yasin Merchant of Maharashtra moved into the semi-finals of the National snooker championship with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Mohammad Asim of West Bengal, in Madras, on Thursday.

Yasin won 76-33, 87-20, 71-26, 65-6, 51-64, 72-16.

In the last four, he plays Devendra Joshi of Maharashtra, who beat S A Saleem of Tamil Nadu 70-21, 81-17, 64-18, 15-83, 10-63, 73-32, 57-29 in another quarter-final.

Rupesh Shah of Gujarat defeated Manan Chandra of Delhi 70-39, 71-60, 46-56, 74-51, 90-28, 59-20 while Alok Kumar scored over Dharmender Lilly of Punjab 62-49, 76-18, 61-47, 31-70, 8-59, 88-18, 71-25 in other last eight matches.

Results: Yashin Merchant (Mah) bt Mohd Asim (Ben) 76-33, 87-20, 71-26, 65-6, 51-64, 72-16; Devendra Joshi (Mah) bt S A Saleem (TN) 70-21, 81-17, 64-18, 15-83, 10-63, 73-32, 57-29; Rupesh Shah (Guj) bt Manan Chandra (Del) 70-39, 71-60, 46-56, 74-51, 90-28, 59-20; Alok Kumar (Pun) bt Dharmendra Lilly (Pun) 62-49, 76-18, 61-47, 31-70, 8-59, 88-18, 71-25.