January 29, 2006	Sunday	Zilhaj 28, 1426

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LAHORE,Jan 28: Except for fifth ranked Zafar Tasnim, all seeded players cruised into the quarterfinals of the 49th national badminton championship (men’s singles) at Iqbal Park Sports Complex on Saturday.

Hashar Bashir beat Zafar in three games 15-17, 15-4, 15-3 to register the first upset of the championship.

Zafar, though made some unforced errors on crucial stages in the first, won after being tied 8-8, 10-10 and 13-13.

It seemed the laborious first game had tired Zafar as he failed to play to his true potential, dropping point after point to lose back-to-back games tamely and the match, too.

Hashar’s sizzling forehand shots played a key role for his win. Top seed Wajid Ali removed another hurdle when he had to work hard in beating spirited Imran Laeeq 15-11, 15-9.

Wajid, expected to play the final, faltered in the first as Imran made a stunning start of taking 5-2 lead.

Wajid, however, made a comeback with his true game catch Imran at 5-5 and then remained in front till last to complete the scoring.

Second seed and defending champion Omar Zeeshan ousted his departmental mate Mohammad Naveed after surviving scare in the first game 17-16, 15-3.

Little known Naveed appeared in the first game like a champion as he faced experienced Omar with great degree of authority.

Matching each other at several stages, Omar eventually gained 1-0 lead and wrapped the next quite easily to move ahead.

Top seed and defending champion Ayesha Akram (NBP) with former national champion Asma Butt and Uzma Butt entered the ladies’ quarterfinals.

Ayesha proved too good for Shaheen 11-4, 11-5.

Uzma blasted Aiman Khan 11-0, 11-7 for an easy sailing.

Asma brushed aside Aqsa Razzaq 11-4, 11-3.

The quarterfinals of the ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles were also decided. The men’s doubles second round was also completed.

Results:

Men’s singles (pre-quarterfinals): Wajid Ali bt Imran Laeeq 15-11, 15-9; Shabbar Hussain bt Ijaz 10-15, 15-10, 15-3; Waqas Ahmed bt Harrison 15-10, 15-5; Hashar Bashir bt Zafar Tasnim 15-17, 15-4, 15-9; Aamir Islam bt Imran Mohib 15-7, 15-5; Ahsan Qamar bt Atif Nadeem 15-7, 15-6; Atiq Chaudhary bt Ashraf Masih 15-11, 15-7; Omar Zeeshan bt Mohammad Naved 17-16, 15-3.

Ladies’ singles (pre-quarterfinals): Ayesha Akram bt Shaheen 11-4, 11-5; Shahnaz bt Ambar Aslam 11-4, 11-2; Farzana Ali bt Aneeqa Rana 11-2, 11- 4; Sara Mehmand bt Farzana Shaheen 11-2, 11-3; Uzma Butt bt Aiman Khan 11-0, 11-7; Sara Khan bt Saadia Arshad 11- 3, 11-4; ; Saima Manzoor bt Mahrukh (Sindh) 11-0, 11-3; Asma Butt bt Aqsa 11-4, 11-3.

Men’s doubles (second round): Wajid Ali-Ahsan bt Akram-Jehanzeb 15-4, 15-7; Ijaz-Faisal bt Afzal-Farhan-Irfan 15-3, 15-3; Kashif- Harrison bt Imran-Zaheer 13-15, 15-10, 15-12; Mohammad Naveed-Shahid bt Rafiq-Naeem 15-13, 15-13; Kashif-Danish bt Hashar-Ali Zaman 15-5, 15-7; Ali Yar-Rizwan Rana bt Kashif-Sohail 15-5, 15- 1; Asad-Tariq bt Mohammad Shahzad-Khalid 15-8, 15-6; Mushtaq-Masood bt Nadeem-Navid 15-3, 15-4; Atiq-Rizwan Azam bt Murad-Hayatullah 15-12, 17-16; Nabeel-Zohaib bt Nadeem-Tahir 15-5, 15-5; Nauman-Atif bt Sabir-Faisal 15-6, 15-11; Iftikhar-Arshad bt Imtiaz-Khawaja Iqbal 15-5, 15-7.

Ladies’ doubles (quarterfinals): Asma-Uzma bt Salma Sharif-Razia 15-7, 15-5; Sara-Aniqa Aiman-Mahrukh 15-6, 15-4; Saima Manzoor-Farzana Ali (Wapda)bt Saadia Arshad-Farzana Shaheen 15-13, 15-11; Ayesha Akram-Sara Khan bt Ambar Ghazali-Furrukh 15-2, 15-6.

Mixed’s doubles (quarterfinals): Waqas Ahmed-Saima Manzoor bt Mohammad Navid-Zawia 15-4, 15-1; Nauman-Aiman bt Haroon-Sumaira 15-1, 15-2; Hashar-Sara bt Zohaib-Razia 15-7, 15-5; Nadeem Ishaq-Aneeqa bt Tariq-Ambar 15-7, 15-5.