October 20, 2001	Saturday	Shaba'an 2, 1422

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LAHORE, Oct 19: Unseeded Mohammad Ali of Wapda and Atiq of New Khan caused upset victories to enter the last 16 stages in the men’s singles of the fourth All-Pakistan badminton tournament at the New Khan court Thursday evening.

Ali stunned PTCL’s 16th seed Rizwan Rana 15-2, 15-12 while unseeded Atiq fought hard to beat a superior Faisal Afzal of Wapda 15-13, 15-12.

Ali, after running away with the first game conceding just two points, found a fighting Rizwan in the second game who drew at 10-all and looked dangerous.

Nevertheless, Ali lifted the standard of his game with some exquisite drops and smashes to win the game at 15-12 and win a place in the pre-quarters.

Atiq was in good form and almost played an error-free match. He was also supported by some erratic display by Faisal who made costly mistakes on crucial points.

In the first game, Faisal led Atiq 8-6 before the latter accelerated the pace of his game to snatch the game at 15-13. In the second game, the two shuttlers kept the spectators glued to their seats before Atiq closed the doors on Faisal by winning the second game at 15-12 and the match at two-games to nil.

Also completing the last 16 lineup were PTCL’s third seed Ashraf Masih who eliminated Mohammad Zaheer (Rahimyar Khan) 15-2, 15-4, fourth seed Omar Zeeshan of PTCL who defeated unseeded Imran Mohib (Wapda) 15-8, 15-7, fifth seed Ahsan Qamar (New Khan) who routed Faizan (Layyah) 15-3, 15-5, former national champion and sixth seed Ali Yar Beg who blitzed Hasan Ali 15-1, 15-3, eighth seed Zafar Tasnim (Wapda) who overpowered Akram Masih (PTCL) 15-11, 17-14, Allied Bank’s Shoaib Butt who disposed off 13th seed Zeeshan Rana 15-12, 15-6 and Asif Beg (Railways) who toppled Tanvir Abbas (Railways) 15-5, 15-6.

Two men’s doubles pre-quarter-final were also decided.

Nauman and Shoaib worked hard to beat a spirited pair of Azhar and Wasim Butt 5-15, 15-12, 15-13 in two hours while Aamir Islam and Imran Mohib dislodged Balal and Atiq 15-10, 15-2.

In the women’s singles quarter-final, Saadia Arshad (Wapda) defeated Aneela 11-4, 11-3, Nadia of Wapda outclassed Samina 11-4, 11-7. Farhana Shaheen and Shahnaz Shah got walk-overs.

In the first women’s doubles semi-final, Shahnaz and Aneela defeated Nadia and Saadia 15-11, 15-4.