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| May 27, 2005 | Friday | Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1426 |
Aysha steals limelight by winning triple crown
KARACHI, May 26: Aysha Akram of NBP stole the limelight winning the triple-crown while Omar Zeeshan of Wapda became the new men’s singles champion as the 48th National badminton championship at the National Sports Training and Coaching Centre on Thursday.
Top seed Aysha toppled defending champion Asma Butt of Wapda 13-10,11-7,11-4 to win her elusive women’s singles crown.
Earlier, she had teamed up with Ali Yar Beg to justify their billing in the mixed doubles brushing aside Waqas-Saima 15-4, 15-7 as she did with Saima Manzoor in the women’s doubles final.
Omar Zeeshan, the third seed, who cruised into the final after upsetting national champion Wajid Ali, had a smooth 15-1, 15-7 sailing over second seed Ahsan Qamar.
Omar got richer by Rs14,000 while Ahsan earned Rs6,000.
Similarly, Aysha took home Rs9,000 for winning the women’s singles title while Asma Butt got Rs4,000.
“I am extremely thankful to Allah who helped me perform triple crown as well as break the women’s singles title jinx after a decade’, a jubilant Aysha told Dawn soon after she won the singles crown for the first time.
The women’s singles final was a repeat of last eight occasions since the two shuttlers first fought for the title battle in 1995.
Asma’s aspirations to retain the title for ninth consecutive time were finally dashed by her opponent.
On the other hand, though Omar Zeeshan had beaten all the top players in the circuit, the men’s singles crown of the country’s premier championship has eluded him in the past.
“I am happy and was expecting to win this time,” said Omar. This was Omar’s second final of the national championship as he had lost to Wajid Ali in 1999.
Top seed pair of Tahir Ishaq-Waqas Ahmad of Wapda annexed the men’s doubles title beating Asadullah Aleem-Tariq Mahmood KPT 13-15, 15-7, 15-8 in the fully extended final.
The women’s singles final turned out to be a keenly contested affair lasting 48-minutes. The first game was fought neck-and neck with two players being tied at 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7. Aysha retained her service and surged 10-7 ahead.
She then lost three consecutive match points as Asma not only levelled the score 10-10 but went on to take the game 13-10 and earned 1-0 lead.
Taking advantage of her reach and drop shots, Aysha raced on to take 8-0 lead in the second game. Asma then managed to earn three points in one hand to reduce the lead 8-3.
Aysha enhanced her lead to 10-3 and again conceded four match points before leveling the score one-all by taking the second game 11-7.
After one-all, Aysha maintained her grip and conceded just three points to wrap up the match taking the last game 11-3.
RESULTS:
Women’s singles (final): Aysha Akram (NBP) bt Asma Butt (Wapda) 13-10, 11-7, 11-4.
Men’s singles (final): Omar Zeeshan (Wapda) bt Ahsan Qamar (PIA)1-1, 15-7.
Men’s doubles (final): Tahir Ishaq-Waqas Ahmad (Wapda) bt Asadullah Aleem-Tariq Mahmood (KPT) 13-15, 15-7, 15-8.
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