KARACHI, May 22: Having triumphed in the men’s team event, Wapda added another feather to their cap when they clinched the women’s team title for the third year in a row handing a convincing 3-1 defeat to National Bank in the final of National badminton championship at the National Sports Training and Coaching Centre (NSTCC) on Sunday.
Wapda shot into 1-0 lead when reigning national champion, Asma Butt made short work of Saima Manzoor 11-1, 11-3. The pair of Palwashah-Aniqa dropped the opener 11-15 before winning 15-7, 15-12 against Aisha-Saima to push the lead to 2-0.
The bankers, however, managed to restore parity through Aisha Akram who beat Wapda’s Sadia Arshad 7-11, 11-1, 13-10. Butt sisters - Asma and Uzma finally wrapped up the match beating Farzana-Sara 15-6, 15-7.
Top-seed Wajid Ali of Wapda and second-seed Ahsan Qamar of PIA cruised into the men’s singles second round.
Wajid chalked up a 15-4, 15-2 victory over Aminul Haq of Railways, while Ahsan was extended to three sets by Faizullah of Balochistan before he won 2-15, 15-2, 15-3.
In the women’s singles, second-seed Farzana Saleem of NBP, along with reigning champion Asma Butt eased into the second round.
Top-seed Aisha Akram got a bye in the first round.
Results:
Women’s team event (final):
Wapda bt National bank 3-1 Asma Butt bt Saima Manzoor 11-1, 11-3; Palwashah-Aniqa bt Aisha-Saima 11-15, 15-7, 15-12; Sadia Arshad lost to Aisha Akram 11-7, 1-11, 10-13; Asma Butt-Uzma Butt bt Farzana-Sara 15-6, 15-7.
Women’s singles (first round): Aneela Rasheed (Pun) w/o Aysha (HEC); Sadia Arshad (Wapda) bt Aysha (Pun) 11-3, 11-3; Zahida Ali (PIA) bt Shakeela (Pun) 11-0, 11-0; Sara Khan (NBP) bt Manisha kotia (Sindh) 11-3, 11-2; Shahnaz Shah (Wapda) bt Razia (Rly) 11-7, 11-5; Farzana Shaheen (Wapda) bt Mahrukh Essa (Sindh) 11-4, 11-2; Aimen Khan (HEC) bt Yasmeen Shaheen (Rly) 11-4, 11-1; Sara Mahmood (Wapda) bt Anjum Khan (Sindh) 11-2, 11-6; Saima Manzoor (NBP) bt Asia Perveen (Pun) 11-0, 11-0; Asma Butt (Wapda) w/o Erum Shahzadi (Pun); Uzma Butt (Wapda) bt Uzma Rani (Pun) 11-2, 11-0; Aneeqa Rana (Wapda) bt Anum (Pun) 11-4, 11-2; Salma Sharif (Rly) bt Asma Rabanni (HEC) 11-8, 11-8; Farzana Saleem (NBP) bt Salma Allahrakha (Rly) 11-4, 11-4.
Men’s singles (first round): Arshad Khan (PTCL) bt Shuja Khan (HEC) 15-6, 15-7; M. Mushtaq (Rly) w/o Kashif (Pun); Ashraf Masih (PTCL) bt Shafique (Bal) 15-8, 15-3; Adeel Siddiqui (HEC) bt Khalid Aziz (Pun) 15-8, 15-9; Faisal Sarwar (Pun) bt Amir (Bal) 8-15, 15-10, 15-5; Gohar Ejaz (HEC) bt Amjad (Pun) 15-8, 15-10; Khawaja Mujeeb (Sindh) bt Waqas Zahid (Pun) 15-13, 15-9; Akram Masih (PTCL) bt Nasiruddin (Sindh) 15-6, 15-2; M. Shahid (Rly) w/o Mahboob Ahmed (Bal); Akhtar Nabeel (New Khan) bt Imtiaz Gill (Isb) 15-6, 15-7; Jehanzeb (Isb) bt M. Ali (New Khan) 15-7, 15-9; Wajid Ali (Wapda) bt Aminul Haq (Rly) 15-4, 15-2; Shahzad (Pun) bt Anis-ur-Rehman (KPT) 15-8, 15-11; M. Naveed (Rly) bt M. Ali (Sindh) 15-5, 9-4 (rtd); M. Atiq (Wapda) bt Murad Ali (NWFP) 15-2, 12-15, 15-5; Umer Zeeshan (Wapda) bt Nadeem (FATA) 15-2, 15-3; Asif Hussain (Sindh) bt Masood Ahmed (Rly) 15-10, 15-9; Ejaz (NBP) bt Luqman Javed (Sindh) 15-2, 15-7; Amir Islam (Wapda) bt Javed (Pun) 15-8, 15-10; Ahmed Nazeer (HEC) bt Kashif Raja (NBP) 15-2 (rtd); Harrison Brent (NBP) bt Bilal Mussadiq(HEC) 11-15, 15-7, 17-14; Ali-uz-Zaman (NBP) bt Tariq Rafiq (KPT) 15-1, 15-0; Imran Mohib (Wapda) w/o Usman (Pun); Wasim Ismail (Sindh) bt Jamil Hussain (HEC) 15-7, 11-15, 15-6; Shabbar Hussain (New Khan) bt Faisal Afzal (Wapda) 15-10, 1-5; Tahir Ishaq (Wapda) bt Ahmed (Pun) 15-3, 15-2; Hashir Bashir (NBP) w/o Amir Ali (Sindh); Waqas (Wapda) bt Abdul Qadir (Sindh) 15-8, 15-8; Atif Nadeem (NBP) bt Farhan Mohib (Sindh) 15-6, 15-2; Zafar Tasneem (Wapda) bt Hayatullah (NWFP) 15-6, 15-12; Intikhab Akram (NBP) bt Umer Rabbani (HEC) 15-9, 15-10; Ahsan Qamar (PIA) bt Faizullah (Bal) 8-15, 15-2, 15-3.