KARACHI: Promising Mehdi Raza on Friday equalled the feat of Hareem Anwar by annexing double crown in the Young Stars ranking table tennis tournament at the Sindh Sports Board sports complex.

Second seed Mehdi first stunned top seed Furqan Patel 11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-4 to land boys under-15 title and then went on to clinch the under-18 crown to complete a splendid double.

Mehdi, who was top seed in under-18, was stretched to limits by second seed Hamza Godil before emerging 11-13, 11-2, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8 victorious.

Meanwhile, second seed Kamran Sarang and fourth seed Aahil Shah won their men’s singles semi-finals in contrasting styles to set a title clash on the penultimate day.

Aahil ended the winning streak of unseeded Furqan Hashim cruising to convincing 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-9 victory. The latter had created quite a stir by ousting top seed Atta Abbas in the pre quarters on Thursday.

Kamran, on the hand, struggled to overcome third seed Bilal Tariq 3-11, 11-2, 14-12, 6-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-8 in the best of seven encounter.

The event concludes on Saturday with men’s and women’s singles finals on the card.

Results:

Boys under-15 singles:

Final: Mehdi Raza bt Furqan Patel (11-6, 11-5, 4-11, 11-4

Boys under-18 singles:

Final: Mehdi Raza bt Hamza Godil (11-13, 11-2, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8)

Men’s singles:

Quarter-finals: Kamran Sarang bt Hussain Virani (11-8, 11-7, 12-10, 11-8), Bilal Tariq bt Khawar Mahmood (11-7, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9), Farhan Hashim bt Akbar Shah (2-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6), Aahil Shah bt Hamza Godil (11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6).

Semi-finals: Aahil Shah bt Farhan Hashim 12-10, 8-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-9; Kamran Sarang bt Bilal Tariq 3-11, 11-2, 14-12, 6-11, 3-11, 11-4, 11-8.

Saturday’s fixtures:

Women’s singles final at 6pm; men’s singles final at 7pm.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015

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