It was a case of youth scoring over experience as Saket Wali beat Cyrus Poncha in another men's quarter-final.

An established coach, who had eliminated Awish Jaiswal, the third seed, yesterday, Poncha appeared to have gained the upperhand when he led by two games to one. However, Wali, who had turned 19 yesterday, gave himself a rather belated birthday present by scoring one of his best victories to date and reaching the men's semi-final for the second time in his career.

Wali was able to gain the day thanks to his speed and fitness. He chased every ball and was quick enough to retrieve drop shots. Poncha, on the other hand, was visibly tiring in the later stages and was often left standing by Wali's disguised drop.

Yet, Poncha fought for all his worth in the decider. The tide turned againsthim when he hit the tin at 9-8. Wali did not look back thereafter and was home at 15-7, 9-15, 11-15, 15-3, 15-11.

``I was a bit nervous at the start,'' Wali said afterwards. ``But my coach Chandrakant Pawar told me to play my normal game and keep my opponent on the back court as far as possible. It helped.''

Wali now awaits the winner of the match between Manish Choitrani, the second seed, and Amit Pal Kohli. Akhil Behl, the National champion who swept past D Yadav 15-7, 15-0, 15-2, plays Abhijit Kukreja in the other semi-final.

Results:

Men's (quarter-finals): Akhil Behl bt D Yadav 15-7, 15-0, 15-2.

Under-19: Parth Doshi bt Mahesh V 15-5, 15-6, 15-9; Abhijit Kukreja bt Jaikaran J 15-3, 15-13, 15-10; Amitpal K bt Aftab M 13-15, 15-7, 15-9, 15-8.

Under-16: Junaid Nathani bt Auloke Mathur 15-9, 15-5, 15-10; Siddharth S bt Vijay J 10-15, 15-11, 15-10, 15-9.

Professionals: Santosh More bt Riyaz M 12-15, 15-10, 17-15, 15-13; Anant More bt Sunil V 13-15, 15-4, 15-6, 15-5;Chandrakant Pawar bt Ramesh More 16-17, 15-10, 15-11, 17-15; Rajesh Verma bt Rajesh S 15-4, 15-4, 15-13.

Women's: Rhea Bhandari bt Charishma Juneja 15-12, 15-10, 15-7; Deepali A bt Kavita N 15-3, 15-1, 15-1; Mekhla Subedar bt Sunita Choudhary 15-5, 15-9, 15-7; Parineeta Choudhary bt Sarita Jetwani 15-11, 15-4, 15-12.

Under-19: Parth Doshi bt Mahesh V 15-5, 15-6, 15-9; Abhijit K bt Jaikaran J 15-3, 15-13, 15-10, Amitpal K bt Aftab M 13-15, 15-7, 15-9, 15-8

Men's quarter-finals: Akhil Behl bt D Yadav 15-7, 15-0, 15-2; Abhijit Kukerja bt Neeraj Shirgoakar 15-8, 13-15, 15-1, 15-10; Manish Choitrani bt Amitpal Kohli 7-15, 15-8, 15-12, 15-0; Sakat Wali bt Cyrus Poncha 15-7, 9-15, 11-15, 15-3, 15-11