KARACHI, Sept 13: Rising star Maliha Khurshid captured triple crown by adding women’s singles title to her tally while Khawaja Kashif toppled title holder and current member of the national team, Hassan Haider, to become new men’s singles champion at the 35th Karachi Table Tennis Championship on Wednesday.

Maliha who won girls U-15 and U-18 titles the other day overcame Sobia Ahzaz in a pulsating final 13-15, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8.

Kashif, bronze medalist of the last national championship, tamed a superior player with comfortable ease in the best of seven sets final. The scores were 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6.

Usman Ahmed claimed the boys U-15 title when he downed Salman Shahid 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.

“It’s like a dream coming true,” a jubilant Maliha told Dawn soon after the triumph which helped her become the only player in the contest to stand tall.

Maliha, 15, who is Xth grade student at Jamia Millia School, described the final as ‘tough’ in which she recovered twice to win the battle in deciding set.

After an unimpressive start which saw her trail 0-2 losing the first two sets 13-15, 9-11, she surged 3-2 taking the next three sets 11-8, 11-8, 11-9. She again surrendered the sixth 10-12 before bouncing back to grab the decider 11-8.

The men’s singles final was in contrast to the women’s final as it ended straight and fell short of expectations. Twice Sindh champion, Kashif took a solid start and raced on to earn 10-2 lead in the opener. However, his opponent came close and reduced the margin to 9-10. The former wrapped up the set 11-9.

The following set saw a neck-and-neck battle at 3-3, 8-8, 9-9 before Kashif doubled the lead taking it 11-9. Continuing with the same spirit he won the next set 11-9 and sealed the fate with 11-6 win in the fourth.

“This is my first win against Haider which came rather smoothly,” Kashif said after the final.

Results: