ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s unseeded Mahnoor Shahzad stunned Vietnam’s Thi Phuong Thuy in a nerve-wracking encounter to make it to the Pakistan International Series Badminton Tournament final here at the Liaquat Gymnasium on Saturday.

In the men’s singles, Mohammad Irfan and Rizwan Azam failed to make the most of their home advantage as they were crushed by Vietnam’s top-seeded Duc Phat Le and Turkey’s Emre Lale respectively.

Both Mahnoor and Phoung Thuy put on display a decent performance giving tough time to each otherbefore the former won 23-21, 23-21.

Mahnoor will face Sri Lanka’s Hasini Nausaka for the title game, Nausaka beat Pakistan’s Sehra Akram in straight games 21-16, 21-04.

In the men’s singles semi-finals, Phat Le eased past Irfan 17-21, 21-12, 21-12 while fourth seed Lale outclassed sixth seed Rizwan 21-16, 21-17.

The pairs of Rizwan and Kashif Sulehri and Irfan and Azeem Sarwar made it to the men’s doubles finals, while in women’s doubles the duo of Sehra and Huma Javeed and Palwasha Bashir and Khizra Rasheed reached in the finals.

Results

Semi-finals:

Men’s singles:

Emre Lale (Turkey) Beat Rizwan Azam (Pakistan) by 21-16, 21-7; Duc Phat Le (Vietnam) bt. Muhammd Irfan (Pakistan) by 17-21, 21-12, 21-12.

Women’s singles:

Hasini Nausaka Ambalangodage (Sri Lanka) bt. Sehra Akram (Pakistan) by 21-16, 21-04; Mahnoor Shahzad (Pakistan) Beat Thi Phuong Thuy (Vietnam) by 23-21, 23-21.

Men’s doubles:

Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri (Pakistan) bt. Muhammad Atique and Awais Zahid (Pakistan) by 21-19, 21-17; Muhammad Irfan and Azeem Sarwar (Pakistan) bt. Le Thanh Lam and Quang Dinh Tran (Vietnam) by 21-15, 21-13.

Women’s doubles:

Sehra Akram and Huma Javeed (Pakistan) bt. Sara Mohmand and Saba Rasheed (Pakistan) by 21-17, 21-15; Palwasha Bashir and Khizra Rasheed (Pakistan) bt. Saima Waqas and Mahoor Shahzad by 21-15, 21-19.

Mixed doubles:

Ratnajit Tamang and Nangsal Tamang (Nepal) bt. Bishnu Katwal and Sunayana Mukhiya (Nepal) by 21-17, 21-07; Dipesh Dhami and Shova Gauchan (Nepal) bt. Waqas Ahmed and Saima Waqas (Pakistan) by 21-17, 23-21.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2017