Hasham leads on opening day of scrabble event

KARACHI: Pakistan Scrabble Association resumed the regular scrabble activities after a gap of six months with the Gladiators 32nd Pakistan Scrabble Championship (master) which got underway at Pharmevo guest house in the city on Friday.

Young Hasham Hadi Khan, who became the youngest national champion last yea,r is defending his title

The tournament is being played in compliance with the standard SOPs as advised by the government

The three-day event is the premier tournament in its 32nd year. It features 44 of the top players based on national rating vying for the ‘national champion’ title.

At the end of day one Hassan Hadi was on top with 6 wins and a spread of 919. Waseem Khatri, defending champion Hasham Hadi and Basil Khan all have 6 wins each but are ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively based on spread

Day one was completely dominated by youth players. 9 year old Bilal Asher was impressive finishing day one on the 9th position. M. Inayatullah is the only senior player showing some resistance against the young masters. He is currently placed 12th.—Agencies

Ibrahim, Eraj clinch tennis titles

KARACHI: Ibrahim Iltifat outplayed Azhar Katchi 6-3, 6-0 to win the men’s singles title while Eraj Batool beat Varisha Khan 8-4 to clinch the ladies singles title in the the inaugural Taqwiyat ul Iman School Sindh ranking tennis championship concluded at Union Club on Saturday.

The men’s doubles event was annexed by Zubair Raja and Saad Salim who beat Oanuddin and Eibad Sarwar.

Shujauddin, CEO Taqwiyatul Ul Iman Schooling System was the chief guest and distributed trophies and medals among winners and runners-up of the events and announced to continue their organisation’s support for tennis in future as well. Ex-Davis Cupper Saeed Hai planted a tree at Union Club in the presence of Gulzar Firoz, Khalid Rehmani, Shahzad Qazi, Shazia Shuja and many others.

Results (finals):

Men’s singles: Ibrahim Iltifat bt Azhar Katchi 6-3, 6-0

Ladies singles: Eraj Batool bt Varisha Khan 8- 4

Men’s doubles: Zubair Raja & Saad Salim bt S. Oanuddin & Eibad Sarwar 8-2.

Under 15 singles: Ayaan Yousuf bt Ahsan Ahmed 6-2, 6-2

Under 13 singles: Ahsan Ahmed bt Dhuraf Das 4-2, 3-5, 10-0.—Agencies

Afeef Trophy ranking tennis from 26th

KARACHI: Karachi Tennis Association under the auspices of STA will organise the 2nd Afeef Trophy Sindh Ranking Tennis Championship at Beach View Club, Clifton from Sept 26 to Oct 3.

Events to be contested include men’s singles and doubles, U-17, U-15, U-13, U-11 and U-9 singles as well as under-15 doubles, soft tennis men’s & ladies singles, wheelchair tennis doubles. All out station players shall be entitled to travelling and daily allowances as per STA Rules.

Last date of entry is Sept 24. Entries should be sent to Khalid Rehmani (referee) at whatsapp numbers 0300 3607209 or at 03362094285 besides email address sindhtennis@gmail.com.

Afeef Group, a prominent name in packaging, will be supporting this prestigious championship.—Agencies

Usman stars as Gulberg Eagles triumph

LAHORE: Gulberg Eagles Club defeated Lahore Gymkhana by six wickets in the OTC Lahore Challenge Cup One-day Club Tournament, which resumed at the Bagh-i-Jinnah on Saturday.

Usman Ali of the winning club was declared man-of-the-match for his all-round performance (2-18 and 63).

Summarised scores:

LAHORE GYMKHANA 182 in 34 overs (Waqas Arshad 42, Sohail Ashraf 28; Kashif Ata 2-14, Usman Ali 2-18 Mohammad Samar 2-34); GULBERG EAGLES 185-4 in 29.3 overs (Usman Ali 63, Raza Usman 43, Mohammad Hafeez 34; Sohail Ashraf 2-32).

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2020