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LAHORE, July 21: Atif Nadeem upset Zafar Tasnim to qualify for the quarterfinals of the 8th Ameer Abdullah Khan Rokhari badminton tournament (men’s singles event) at the New Khan Hall on Thursday. In the best match of the pre-quarterfinals, Atif fought against the experienced rival Zafar for two hours before winning 15-9, 13-15, 15-8.
Atif succeeded in involving his more experienced rival in long rallies and the strategy paid dividend as Zafar ran out of steam to lose the first game.
In the second game in which the fortune fluctuated, Atif maintaining his supremacy and led 9-1 but a great fightback by Zafar who not only levelled the score 9-9 but went on to win the game to make it 1-1 and everything to play for in the third and deciding game.
The stamina-sapping second game allowed proved too much for Zafar as the younger Atif took control from the start to clinch the match quite comfortably.
National champion and top ranked, Wajid Ali continued his smooth sailing beating Arshad Khan 15-6, 15-8. Wajid appeared to be in hurry as he took only 30 minutes to complete the win. Another top ranked Aamir Islam thrashed Mohammad Akhtar in a one-sided affairs 15-8, 15-12.
In a clash between two international, Waqas Ahmed ousted Ashraf Masih 15-13, 15-10.
Earlier, Waqas has also eliminated former national champion Ali Yar Beg late on Wednesday night in a well contested second round match 10-15, 15-1, 15-6.
In the ladies section, Sara Khan was taken to the full distance by Aniqa 7-11, 11-0, 11-3 to qualify for the quarterfinals.
After losing the first game, Sara bounced back to to win the remaining two games quite easily.
Top seed Ayesha Akram and Uzma Butt also entered the quarterfinals.
Results:
Men’s singles (second round): Zafar Tasnim bt Shafiq 15-8, 15-10; Waqas Ahmad bt Ali Yar Beg 10-15, 15-1, 15-6; Hasher Bashir bt Gohar 15-6, 15-1; Omar Zeeshan bt Irfan Afridi 15-6, 15-9; Imran Mohib w/o Faisal Afzal, Shabbar Hussain w/o Asif Beg. Pre-quarterfinals: Aamir Islam bt Mohammad Akhtar 15-8, 15-12; Waqas Ahmad bt Ashraf Masih 15-13, 15-10; Wajid Ali bt Arshad Khan 15-6, 15-8; Atiq Chaudhary bt Naveed 15-7, 15-9; Ijaz Ahmed bt Akram Masih 15-7, 15-1; Atif Nadeem bt Zafar Tasnim 15-9, 13-15, 15-8.
Ladies (pre-quarterfinals): Ayesha Akram bt Zoya 11-0, 11-0; Farzana Saleem bt Zahida Ali 11-3, 11-8; Sara Khan bt Aniqa 7-11, 11-0, 11-3; Farzana Shaheen bt Yasmin Shaheen 11-4, 11-5; Saima bt Sara 11-6,11-1; Uzma Butt bt Palushaw 11-4, 11-2; Shahnaz Shah bt Naila 11-0, 11-0; Asma Butt bt Salma Sharif 11-1, 11-1.
Men’s doubles: Kashif-Danish bt Ali and Harrison 6-15, 15-8, 15-7; Hasher Bashir-Rizwan bt Saood-Nadeem 15-6, 15-9; Omer Zeeshan-Rizwan bt Qasim Akram-Usman 15-12, 15- 13; Zafar-Arshad bt Javed-Usman 15-11, 15-13.
Ladies’ doubles: Zarina-Sara bt Razia-Attiqa 15-6, 15-2; Ayesha Akram-Saima Manzoor bt Salma-Yasmin 15-6, 15-7; Anum-Kiran w/o Asia-Irum, Shahnaz-Farzana w/o Anum-Naila; Palushaw-Aniqa w/o Saira-Uzma.
