MEXICO'S ALFREDO Avila wasted little time in disposing of fellow countryman Gerardo De Paul 3-0 to lift the VI Pan American Junior Squash Champion-ships title at the Liguanea Club courts on Wednesday night.

The nifty Avila showed solid footwork and a soft touch as he ran the bigger De Paul around the court before finishing off several points with unreachable drop shots.

Youngest players

Avila, who recently turned 16 and is one of the youngest players on the tour, won the first game 9-2, outhustled De Paul for a 9-4 win in the second, and then outclassed the tiring Mexican 9-0 for the title.

"I am very happy for the win. I beat a lot of players older than myself and I really had to work hard to win. I think my toughest game was against (Chris) Binnie the Jamaican player," Avila said.

Avila had managed to overcome the hometown hero 9-2, 9-3, 7-9, 10-8 in Tuesday night's quarter-finals.

I am not afraid

"I am younger than a few of these guys but age is not a problem. I train hard, I am also a bit smaller than most of them but I am not afraid, I always put in the effort," he said.

Heading into Wednesday's final, Avila also had to battle past Equador's Daniel Cueva 9-3 8-10, 10-8, 7-9, 9-3 in the semis.

"I was confident heading in but not over-confident," Avila said of the final. "These players are tough. It may have looked easy from the sidelines but it took a special effort," he said.

In the girls' final, which was played earlier in the evening, Catalina Pelaez of Colombia got by Alicia Rodriguez of Mexico 3-1.

The team competition is now under way at the same venue and will climax with tomorrow's finals.