PESHAWAR: NBP’s Murad Ali and Wapda’s Abdur Rehman booked places in men’s semi-finals while Khazra Rashid succeeded in making ladies semi-finals at the All Pakistan Shuhad-e-Army National Badminton here at the Peshawar Services Club on Sunday.

Winner of bronze medal in the South Asian Games, Murad defeated Wapda’s Azeem Sarwar in a marathon match wherein both the players exhibited some forceful smashes in front of a jam-packed crowd.

Murad won the first set 21-19 but failed to click in the second which was won by Azeem 17-21. However, Murad prevailed in the remaining two sets winning both 21-19 and 23-21, respectively.

In the second quarter-final, Abdur Rehman defeated Moqeet Tahir 17-21, 21-19, 21-18. Though Abdur Rehman lost the first set, he staged a strong comeback to win the quarter-final.

On the other hand, Khazra, who also won a bronze medal in the South Asian Games, recorded victory against Punjab’s Ghazala to make it to the semi-finals.

Khazra lost the first set 18-21 but succeeded in winning two back-to-back sets 21-15 and 21-19 against her strong rival.

Earlier, in the pre-quarter-finals, top seeded Owias of Wapda also recorded victory against SNGPL’S Anjum Bashir 21-15, 21-19 with Wapda’s Awan Abbas beating Punjab’s Tayyab Bashir 2-0 while Wapda’s Irfan Saeed defeated Punjab Shameer Iftikhar 2-1 18-21, 21-19, 21-19.

Moreover, the pre-quarter-finals saw Abdur Rehman of Wapda beat Ali Nawab 21-17, 21-18 while Azeeb Sarwar of Wapda beat Ali Mehdi 2-0.

Also, Wapda’s Hashir Bashir beat NBP’s Sabir Hanif 2-0 while Moqeet Tahir of Wapda beat Shabir Hussain of Punjab 2-0 to move into the quarter-finals.

In the second round matches of the doubles event, Murad Ali and Azeem Sarwar beat Tayyab and Faiz 21-19, 21-17 while Waqas Zahid and Ahsan Asif beat Ali Rauf and Hayan 21-13, 21-19.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2016