April 26, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 25: Umer Zeeshan, defending champion Ahsan Qamar, Wajid Ali and Rizwan Azam reached the semi-finals of the 51st National badminton championship at the Rodham Hall here on Friday.

Rizwan Azam of the NBP created an upset in the tournament by defeating fourth seed Hashir Bashir (Wapda) 2-0 (21-10, 21-15).

Meanwhile, National Champion Ayesha Akram, Palwasha Bashir, Sara Mohmand and Sara Khan reached the women’s singles semi-finals.

Palwasha Bashir of the NBP qualified for the semi-final of the national championship for the first time after defeating fourth seed Uzma Butt (Wapda).

Results:

Men’s singles (quarter-finals): Umer Zeeshan (Wapda) bt Attique Chaudhry (Wapda) 21-15, 21-17; Ahsan Qamar (PIA) bt Zafar Tasneem (Wapda) 21-19, 21-15; Rizwan Azam (NBP) bt Hashir Bashir (Wapda) 21-10, 21-15; Wajid Ali (Wapda) bt Amir Islam (Wapda) 21-19, 17-21, 21-16.

Women’s singles (quarter-finals): Ayesha Akram (NBP) bt Shahnaz Shah (Wapda) 21-9, 21-10; Sara Mohmand (NBP) bt Sadia Arshad (Wapda) 20-22, 21-12, 21-19; Palwasha Bashir (NBP) bt Uzma Butt (Wapda) 21-13, 14-21, 21-15; Sara Khan (NBP) bt Saima Waqas (Wapda) 17-21, 21-7, 21-18.

Thursday night’s results:

Men’s doubles pre-quarter-finals: Ali Yaar Baig / Tahir Ishaq (New Khan) bt Waqas Zahid / Taimoor (Railways) 22-20, 21-14; Wajid Ali / Ahsan Qamar bt Shabbar Hussain / Naveed (Wapda) 21-19, 21-11; Nabeel / Zohaib Qamar (Railways) bt Mohammad Ali / Faisal Afzal (Wapda) 19-21, 21-16, 21-12; M. Attique / Rizwan Azam got walkover against M. Zaheer & M. Akhtar (Railways)/ Waqas Ahmed / Kashif Sulehri bt Adil Haseeb / Nadeem Ishaq (Islamabad) 21-11, 21-15; Arnir Islam / Imran Mohib (Wapda) bt Asadullah / Tariq Mahmood (KPT) 15-21, 21-19, 21-15; Rizwan Rana / Irfan Rana (Wapda) bt Harrison / Murad Ali (NBP) 21-19, 21-13; Zeeshan / Zafar (Wapda) bt Ashraf / Atif (NBP) 21-15, 21-18.

Veteran’s singles: Tahir Ishaq (Wapda) bt Khawar Saleem (Punjab) 21-17, 21-15; Mustahir Sohail (Islamabad) bt Asad Akram 22-20, 21-16; Nadem Zafar got walk over against Mustaneer Khan (Punjab); Tahir Ishaq (Wapda) bt Nadeem Zafar (Wapda) 21-16, 21-18; Imran Mahmood bt Amir Islam (Wapda) 22-20, 18-21, 21-19; Habib Alam (New Khan) bt Imran Mahmood 21-14, 21-13; Khwaja Iqbal (Sindh) bt M. Sarwar (Punjab) 21-19, 21-8.

Veteran’s doubles: Tahir Javed / Habib Alam (New Khan) bt Tahir / Tahir Jamal 23-21, 21-17; Tariq Shaheed / Imtiaz Gill (Islamabad) bt Jahangir / Rizwan Mirza 21-15, 21-12; Abid Mahmood / Sohail Waheed (Jehlum) bt Ali Nawaz Shah / Asad Akram (New Khan) 18-21, 21-14, 21-8; Nadeem Zafar / Khwaja Iqbal bt Umer Farooq / Khawar (Punjab) 21-13, 21-17; Nadeem / Naeem (AJK) bt Mutahir Sohail / Imran Mehmood 21-17, 21-10; Tahir Mahmood / Tahir Jamal bt Farrukh Saleem / Shahnawaz Khan 21-7, 21-18; Nadeem Javed / Naveed Javed (Wapda) bt Tahir Retyal / Ijaz Raza 21-14, 21-19; Ali Nawaz Shah / Asad Akram (New Khan) bt Sarwar / Shahid 21-19, 21-13.