May 03, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 26, 1429

LAHORE, May 2: India, Habib Bank Limited, Wapda ‘A’ and Punjab have all qualified for the semi-finals of the International Master Cup table tennis invitation circuit at the Wapda Sports Complex here on Friday.

The Indian men’s team won both of their matches to make the last four. India first defeated Higher Education Commission (HEC) followed by Railways, both in straight sets.

In their HEC encounter, India’s Anirban Nandi gave his side the lead, defeating Mubashir Khan 11-6, 11-4, 11-6. Meanwhile, Debash Karia doubled the lead beating Awais Ahmed 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3 with the pair of Debash and Jubin sealing the fate of the tie winning the doubles too against Mubashir and Awais 11-0, 11-4, 11-6.

Against Railways, Jubin was the winner against Javed Hussain 11-9, 11-5, 11-9. Anirban Nandi carved out victory against Rameez Khan 11-5, 11-4, 11-4. The pair of Jubin and Debesh again remained victorious in the doubles, this time outclassing duo Awais/Rameez rather easily 11-2, 11-4, 11-5.

Like India, all the other teams, which entered the pre-final, also won two matches each.

Three men and an equal number of women from India along with 29 men and women each from different affiliated units of the Pakistan Table Tennis Federation are competing in the event that concludes on Monday.

Results:

India bt HEC 3-0 (Anirban Nandi bt Mubashir Khan 11-6, 11-4, 11-6; Debesh Karia bt Awais Ahmed 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-3; Debesh-Jubin bt Mubashir/Awais 11-9, 11-4, 11-6).

India bt Railways 3-0 (Jubin Kumar bt Javed Hussain 11-9, 11-5, 11-9; Anirban Nandi bt Rameez Khan 11-5, 11-4, 11-4; Jubin/Debesh bt Awais/Rameez 11-2, 11-4, 11-5).

HBL bt NWFP 3-1 (Asim Aziz bt Arif Siddiqi 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Yasir Iqbal bt M. Ramzan 11-8, 11-8, 11-6; Asim/Yasir lost to Sajid/Rizwan 5-11, 4-11, 11-6, 5-11; Yasir Iqbal bt Arif Siddiqui 11-5, 11-3, 11-6).

Punjab bt Balochistan 3-0 (M. Farooq bt Kamran Nazir 11-6, 11-6, 16-14; Abdul Rahim bt Ramzan Ali 11-9, 11-6, 11-8; Rafiq/Fahim bt Kamran/Ramzan 11-9, 11-3, 11-5).

NWFP bt Sindh 3-0 (Rizwan Ahmed bt

Asif Aziz 12-14, 11-8, 11-9, 11-7; Arif Siddiqui bt Atif Abbasi 11-5, 11-2, 11-4; Rizwan/Arif bt Asif/Atif 12-10, 11-8, 11-5).

Islamabad bt Pak PWD 3-0 (Waqas Ayub bt Rahil Qureshi 11-8, 11-3, 11-8; Tariq Aziz bt Asif Razzaq 11-8, 11-6, 11-5; Tariq/Waqas bt Asif/Rahil 11-9, 11-6, 11-9.

Railways bt HEC 3-1 (Awais Hussain bt Awais Ahmed 11-8, 11-8, 11-6; Umar Hussain lost to Mubashir Khan 8-11, 7-11, 5-11; Awais/Rameez bt Awais/Mubashir 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4; Awais Hussain bt Mubashir Khan 11-7, 11-9, 11-6).

Wapda ‘A’ bt Pak PWD 3-0 (Saleem Abbas bt Asif Razzaq 11-4, 11-5, 11-3; Asim Qureshi bt Rahil Qureshi 11-7, 11-6, 11-3; Bilal/Asim bt Asif-Rahil 11-4, 11-6, 11-6).

Wapda ‘B’ bt Balochistan 3-0 (Sajid Hussain bt Ramzan Ali 11-5, 11-9, 11-9; Adnan Mushtaq bt Kamran Ali 11-5, 11-5, 11-6; Adnan/Farhat bt Ramzan/Kamran 11-8, 12-14, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7.

Wapda ‘A’ bt Islamabad 3-0 (Bilal Yasin bt Tariq Aziz 11-3, 11-4, 14-12; Asim Qureshi bt Waqas Ayub 11-4, 11-5, 11-7; Saleem/Asim bt Tariq/Waqas 11-8, 12-10, 11-3).

HBL beat Sindh 3-0 (Yasir Iqbal bt Naveed Nazar 11-5, 11-4, 11-7; Azeem Aziz bt Asif Aziz 11-5, 4-11, 11-7, 11-6; Azeem/Yasir bt Naveed/Asif 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 11-3).

Punjab bt Wapda ‘B’ 3-2 (Rafiq Sahardi lost to Faryal Minhas 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7; Abdul Rahim bt Adnan Mushtaq 11-7, 11-6, 11-8; Rafiq/Rahim bt Adnan/Faryal 11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 12-10; Rafiq Sahardi lost to Adnan Mushtaq 11-8, 5-11, 6-11, 5-11; Abdul Rahim bt Faryal Minhas 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-9).