ISLAMABAD, May 24: Hasnain Sh Ali Asghar ended the fine run of Juzar Bhai Saheb toppling him in the semifinal of the Rawalpindi Dawoodi Bhora table tennis tournament 19-21, 23-21, 21-19 on Monday night. Juzar BS topped Pool A with victories in all his seven pool matches while Hasnain was runner-up from Pool B after losing just one match to pool leader Rizwan Ehsan Ali.

Hasnain’s top spin serve was the key to his semifinal success.

Juzar BS made a stunning recovery when he came back from 12-19 down to win the first game.

However, Hasnain’s serve made the difference in the second as he levelled the scores with a close 23-21 win.

In the decisive game, Juzar BS was trailing 13-17 before he won all five points on his serve and went 18-17 up but Hasnain was able to close the match with his powerful serve and allowed Juzar BS to score just one more point.

The second semifinal between Rizwan and Murtaza Adam Ali was scheduled to be played later on Tuesday while the final is to be contested on Wednesday.