August 06, 2007	Monday	Rajab 21, 1428

LAHORE, Aug 5: Pakistan’s No.2 Umer Zeeshan and upcoming Sara Khan emerged as new champions in the men and women’s singles events in the 10th Ameer Abdullah Khan Rokri Tournament, winning their respective finals in straight sets here on Sunday.

Umer toppled national champion Ahsan Qamar (21-10, 21-18) in the final which was not a very competitive event.

Ahsan, who had beaten the Pakistan No.1, Wajid Ali, in the pre-final on Saturday, proved to be a wall of sand against Umer.

Ahsan had also upset Wajid in the final of the last national championships in Karachi. On Saturday, he won the pre-final against Wajid (22-20, 18-21, 21-16). But Sunday was a different story as Ahsan failed to excel on the court against Umer. Almost all of Umer’s smashing shots proved successful, while Ahsan could not grab a single point on his smashing. Umer also exhibited good legwork and fine court coverage, which gave him complete control near the nets.

With the first set a cake walk for Umer, he remained in front throughout the second. Ahsan was left with no other option but to chase his rival to lose the set and the final, too.

The winner received a trophy and cash prize of Rs15,000 while the runners-up pocketed Rs7,000.

In the final of the ladies’ singles, Sara Khan, who hails from a badminton-playing family, staged a big upset, ousting the national champion Ayesha Akram. Karachi-based Sara is daughter of the former international player Anwar Saeed. A national junior champion from last year, Sara appeared for the first time in the senior’s section and she turned out to be a giant-killer. But she had to fight hard. The three-set final produced the results 21-18, 19-21, 22-20.

The winner received a cash prize of Rs10,000 while the runners-up got Rs5,000.

|The men’s doubles title was won by Rizwan Azam-Attique Chaudhary, who defeated Rizwan Rana-Irfan Rana in straight sets (21-13, 21-13).

The mixed doubles final was won by Attique-Palwasha Basheer, who beat Nabeel-Ayesha Akram in a three sets match (21-18, 21-23, 21-19).

The women’s doubles final was won by Saima Manzoor-Palwasha Basheer, who beat Ayesha Akram-Sara Khan in straight sets (21-13, 21-15).