December 15, 2006	Friday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 14: Top seed Wajid Ali and Umar Zeeshan cruised into the quarter-finals of the 9th Ameer Abdullah Khan Rokri ranking badminton tournament on Thursday. National champion Wajid of Wapda ousted a little-known Imran Mohib in two sets 21-19, 21-12.

Wajid faced a good fight in the first set as Imran was once leading closely at 15-13.

Wajid, however, caught up with Imran at 15-all with sizzling forehand shots and fine footwork to win the first. The second set proved one-sided as Wajid played dropped just 12 points to wrap up the win to go into the last eight in style.

Umar, representing Wapda, stormed into the last eight as he outclassed his departmental mate Munir Akram 21-13, 21-12. Umar led in both the sets from onset out before completing a commendable win.

The other matches were also one-sided as Shabbar Hussain carved out a win against promising Hafiz Irfan 21-11, 21-11, Waqas Ahmed powered his way to beat Mohammad Naved 21-12, 21-14.

Former national champion Aamir Islam notched up win against Ijaz 21-16, 21-18, Atiq Ahmed proved too good for Rizwan Azam 21-19, 21-19. Zafar Tasneem eliminated a tough challenge from experienced Ahsan Qamar to complete 21-14, 21-15 win. Hashar Bashir recorded rather easy win against Pervez Nabeel 21-11, 21-17.

In the women’s individual category, Farah, Asma, Shahnaz, Zobia, Farzana, Pulusha, Saima Manzoor, Farzana Shaheen, Aqsa Razzaq, Sara Khan, Salma Sharif, Uzma Butt, Aneeqa Rana, Sara Mahmond, Anam, Ayesha Akram won their respective matches to move into the second round.