Top seed Willstrop, the British and European Junior Champion from Pontefract,
was again in awesome form against Pakistan's No1 junior Khayal Muhammad,
taking just 27 minutes to earn his 9-1 9-0 9-4 victory and a long-awaited
place in the final. The match was marred by 32 appeals - the majority of
which were judged to be 'no let' - but significantly only one came from the
Englishman! Uncharacteristically, however, this twice got the better of the
normally excellent-tempered Willstrop, who on the second occasion received a
conduct warning during the third game - which resulted in the England manager
David Campion rushing to open the court door to urge his half-brother to calm
down!

In the other semi-final, Peter Barker played in a totally disciplined manner
to avoid any confrontations. Sadly, however, his opponent Majid Khan seemed
determined again to involve the referee at all costs - to his complete
detriment as top referee Chris Sinclair, like Muneer Shah in the first match,
simply would not give the endless lets requested. By the third game, with
Barker 2-0 up, the Pakistani at last seemed to realise and got on with
playing the ball and rallying - with the result that he reached game ball at
8-6 with some fine play. An error, then a lapse back to earlier appeal-mode,
saw his chance slip away and Barker win the game and the match 9-3 9-0 10-8
in 56 minutes.

Both finalists were upbeat afterwards. "I'm feeling very focussed and in
great shape - looking forward to another meeting with Peter tomorrow," said
favourite Willstrop. "We know each other's game really well and have a great
deal of respect for each other," conceded James, who beat Barker in both the
British and European Junior finals - indeed, has never lost to his England
team-mate.

Barker added: "I am delighted with the way I have played through to the
final, with tough matches against two Pakistanis Khalid Atlas and Majid Khan
in the last two rounds. I always look forward to playing James, and if I can
play as well as I did against him in the European final in France in March, I
think I have a good chance."

RESULTS: Men's World Junior Individual Squash Championship, Chennai, India

Semi-finals:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9/16] Khayal Muhammad (PAK) 9-1, 9-0, 9-4
(27m)
[2] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [4] Majid Khan (PAK) 9-3, 9-0, 10-8 (56m)