KARACHI, May 24: Unseeded Uzma Butt of Wapda created quite a stir when she registered a stunning 2-1 victory over second seed Farzana Saleem of NBP to set a date with her elder sister Asma in the women’s singles semifinals of the 48th National badminton championship at the National Sports Training and Coaching Centre (NSTCC) on Tuesday.

Uzma, who had toured Iran, Sri Lanka and Malaysia with Pakistan team, had to struggle hard to emerge 11-7, 4-11, 11-7 victorious against her opponent in the quarterfinals. She now meets fourth seed Asma Butt, who had no difficulty in winning against Saima Manzoor of NBP 11-7, 11-7.

Top seed Aysha Akram and third seed Sara Khan also qualified to meet each other in the semifinals.

While the former conceded just two points in as many games before notching up victory against Zahida Ali, the latter romped home with an 11-3, 11-6 win over Aimen Khan. Sara is the reigning national junior champion.

All the top four seeded players, as expected, advanced into the men’s singles semifinals. Top seed Wajid Ali disposed of Ashraf Masih 15-4, 15-6.

Second seed Ahsan Qamar after dropping the opener 13-15, recovered to clinch the next two games 15-8, 15-11 against Zafar Tasneem.

Third seed Omar Zeeshan was also extended to full length by former national champion, Amir Islam before winning the battle 15-12, 3-15 and 15-2. Waqas Ahmed, the fourth seed, edged out Shabbar Hussain 9-15, 15-8, 15-1.

Wajid Ali will face Omar Zeeshan while Waqas Ahmad takes on Ahsan Qamar in the two semifinals on Wednesday at 10.00 a.m.

The pair of Ali Yar-Aysha also pulled off an upset when they notched up 15-6, 10-15, 15-6 victory over reigning mixed doubles champions combination of Tahir-Palwashah, to cruise into the final.

The winners now meet Waqas-Saima who had the better of Aimen-Intikhab 15-14, 15-8.

Results: