ISLAMABAD: Promising youngster Salman Virk created a big upset by defeating top-ranked table tennis player Asim Qureshi in a quarter-final of the Masters Cup at the Hamidi Hall of the Pakistan Sports Board here on Wednesday.

Ayesha Iqbal and Raheela Kashif after beating Sanam Yasin and Shabnam Bilal respectively qualified for the final in women category.

Salman, who is also among top eight players, defeated top ranking player Asim Qureshi 4-2 in the penultimate quarter-final.

Salman won the first set 11-8 but in second set, the experienced Asim made a comeback and won it 13-11. In the next set, once again Salman managed to defeat Asim 14-12 after an exciting game.

In the fourth set, Asim while playing powerful stro­kes outclassed Salman 11-6.

But in next two sets, the top ranking player was outclassed by Salman with 11-8 and 11-9 respectively.

Like Salman, Shujat Ali and Mohammad Rameez also confirmed their berths in the semi-finals after beating their respective challengers in the quarter-finals.

Shujat defeated Tariq Aziz 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 while Mohammad Rameez bt Asad Hameed 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9.

Meanwhile, in the women’s first semi-final Ayesha Iqbal outclassed Sanam Yasin 11-7, 11-9, 11-9 and 11-5. In the second semi-final, Raheela Kashif defeated Shabnum Bilal 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10, 10-12 and 9-11.

Results:

Men’s singles:

Second round play-off: Hafiz-ur-Rehman bt Arbeel Qureshi 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-8; Abdul Haseeb bt Rafiq Sarhadi 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3; Faheem Raza bt Mohammad Hamza 7-11, 17-15, 11-5, 11-8; Faizan Ahmed bt Faryal 11-9, 11-8, 11-7; Mohammad Arbeel bt Masood Khan 11-9, 11-9, 11-7; Yasir Bhatti bt Hafiz Zeeshan 7-11, 11-8, 17-15, 5-11, 11-4; Reham Javed bt Salman Saleem 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9; Sajid Hussain bt Omer 8-11, 12-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9; Mohammad Khubaib bt Obaid Shah 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9.

Quarter-finals: Shujat Ali bt Tariq Aziz 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5; Mohammad Rameez bt Asad Hameed 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9; Salman Virk bt Asim Qureshi 11-8, 11-13, 14-12, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9.

Women’s singles:

Second round play-off: Sidra Sattar bt Sobia Faryal 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10; Ghalia Noshin bt Sadia Raheel 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9; Sadia Falak bt Farah Ilyas 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-6; Loiza Irshad bt Yasmeen Akhtar 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8; Ayesha Faheem bt Abeera Ali 7-11, 11-7, 3-11, 11-7, 11-8; Maliha Khurshid bt Farwa Arif 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8.

Semi-finals: Ayesha Iqbal bt Sanum Yasin 11-7, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5; Raheela Kashif bt Shabnum Bilal 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 3-11, 12-10, 10-12, 9-11.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2015

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