LAHORE, July 18: Three Pakistanis reached the third round of the Asian U-19 badminton championship at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ali Mehdi entered the third round winning the singles against 13th seed of the tournament Mou Chi Keong (Macao) 21-16, 21-8.

Ali Murad moved ahead to oust 7th seed Chan Guorui of Singapore 2-1. He won the 1st set 21-19, but lost the 2nd set closely 24-22, before recovering to win the third set 22-20.

In the doubles, Timur Arab and Awais Zahid beat the Vietnamese pair of Phom and Trang in 2nd round 21-15,22-20,21-19.

They also defeated Syrian duo of Mohamed and Amir in three sets 21-15,19-21,21-8.—Sports Reporter