LAHORE: Wapda’s trio of Aoun Abbas, Ali Mehdi and Azeem Sarwar and Murad Ali of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) reached the men’s singles semi-finals of the 56th National Badminton Championships here on Tuesday.

In the women’s singles event too, three Wapda players Mahoor Shahzad, Sehra Akram and Aneela Irshad along with Ghazala Siddique (SNGPL) made it to the last four.

The men’s doubles event entered the semi-final stage.

In the men’s singles quarter-finals, Aoun overcame tense moments before beating M Tahir Khan of Police 21-13, 12-21, 21-16. The remaining three quarter-finals remained one-sided.

Similarly, in the women’s section, Aneela Irshad was the lone contender, who stretched to three setters to topple Bushra Akram in an all-Wapda quarter-final with the score being 21-19, 15-21, 21-14.

Results:

Men’s singles quarter-finals: Aoun Abbas (Wapda) bt M Tahir Khan (Police) 21-13, 12-21, 21-16; Ali Mehdi (Wapda) bt Awais Zahid (Wapda) 21-17, 20-22; Azeem Sarwar (Wapda) bt Amir Saeed (Wapda) 21-14, 21-13; Murad Ali (NBP) bt Raja Hasnain (NBP) 21-10, 21-12.

Women’s singles quarter-finals: Mahoor Shahzad (Wapda) bt Zubaira Islam (SNGPL) 21-7, 21-2; Sehra Akram (Wapda) bt Mehmoona Ameer (Wapda) 21-8, 21-10; Ghazala Siddique (SNGPL) bt Saima Waqas (Wapda) 21-15, 21-10; Aneela Irshad (Wapda) bt Bushra Akram (Wapda) 21-19, 15-21, 21-14.

Men’s doubles quarter-finals: Awais Zahid (Wapda)/Raja Zulqarnain (NBP) bt Shahmeer Iftikhar (SNGPL)/Anjum Bashir (NBP) bt 21-14, 21-16; Aoun Abbas/Zunain Javed (Wapda) bt Waqas Ahmed/Omer Zeeshan (Wapda) 21-18, 20-22, 21-14; Hashir Bashir (Wapda)/Murad Ali (NBP) bt M Ali Larosh/Noman (SNGPL) 21-17, 21-17; Attique Ch (Wapda)/Raja Hasnain (NBP) bt Kashif Sulehri- Rizwan Azam (NBP) 22-20, 16-21, 21-19.

Women’s doubles semi-final: Saima Waqas (Wapda)/Ghazala Siddique (SNGPL) bt Aneela Irshad (Wapda)/Zubaira Islam (SNGPL) 21-16, 22-20; Sehra Akram/Huma Javed (Wapda) bt Mahoor Shahzad/Khizra Rasheed (Wapda) 21-17, 16-21, 21-10.

Mixed doubles pre-quarter-finals: Zunnain Javed/Mehmoona Ameer (Wapda) bt Ammar Masood/Khadija (Punjab) 21-7, 24-22; Shahmeer Iftikhar/Javeria Tahir (SNGPL) bt Ali Chishti/ Yasmeen (Islamabad) 21-11, 22-20; Awais Zahid/Sehra Akram (Wapda) bt Rohail/Amal (Punjab) 21-16, 21-14; Raja Haider/Manaal Tariq (NBP) bt Adeel Anjum/Rida Hanif (Army) 21-17, 21-14; Rizwan Azam/Sara Mohmand (NBP) bt Aoun Abbas/Shaista (Wapda) 21-12, 21-15.

Mixed doubles (quarterfinals): Awais Zahid/Sehra Akram (Wapda) beat Shahmeer/Javeria Tahir (SNGPL) 21-19, 21-17. Waqas Ahmed/Saim Waqas (Wapda) bt Zunnain/Mehmoona (Wapda) 12-21, 21-13, 21-14; M Ali Larosh/Ghazala Siddique (SNGPL) bt Raja Haider/Minal Tariq (NBP) 19-21, 21-8, 21-17; Rizwan Azam/Sara Mohmand (NBP) b/t Attique Ch./Khizra (Wapda) 15-21, 21-12, 21-17.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2019