Taha blasts hurricane ton in Challenge Cup opener
KARACHI: A swashbuckling century from Taha Mahmood got the inaugural KCCA Zone-I Challenge Cup T20 tournament off to an electrifying start at the SBP Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
The opening day action also provided a nail-biting finish when Vital Five CC sealed a last-ball victory by just one wicket against Zaheer Hassan CC on the back of Abdullah Nasir’s crucial half-century.
Taha clobbered seven huge sixes and as many fours on his way to an unbeaten 61-ball 100 while helping Liaquatabad Eaglets post 180-4 before sinking Shark CC by 82 runs with the leg-spinning duo Ahmed Nawaz, who returned astounding figures of 3-6 in three overs, and Taimur Mahmood equally sharing six wickets between them to bundle the rival team for only 98 in 19.4 overs.
Meanwhile, Noorullah was the mainstay of Zaheer Hassan CC batting with a 48-ball 65 (five fours and four sixes) as his team reached 167-7.
But it was Abdullah who came to Vital Five CC’s rescue by scoring 63 off 50 deliveries with the aid of nine boundaries and one six, while Waqas Qudratullah also played a fine hand with a 12-ball cameo of 23 (two sixes and one four). Off-spinner Shahzad Ahmed snared four wickets for 23 runs in four overs.
KCCA president Nadeem Omar, who graced the occasion as the chief guest, inaugurated the tournament by striking a ball. In a brief speech Nadeem appreciated the efforts of Zone-I chairman and former Pakistan paceman Jalaluddin for taking the initiative of organising a quality club level event in Karachi.
Also present were tournament committee chairman Waqar Hussain, ex-Pakistan player Rashid Khan and SBP sports in-charge Zaheer-ul-Hasan.
Summarised scores:
Vital Five CC bt Zaheer Hassan CC by one wicket.
ZAHEER HASSAN CC 167-7 in 20 overs (Noorullah 65, Asif Ali 27, Mubashir Abbas 26; Fahim Ahmed 2-15); VITAL FIVE CC 168-9 in 20 overs (Abdullah Nasir 63, Hasnain Rizvi 33, Waqas Qudratullah 23; Shahzad Ahmed 4-23, Aamir Rehman 2-44).
Liaquatabad Eaglets CC bt Shark CC by 82 runs.
LIAQUATABAD EAGLETS 180-4 in 20 overs (Taha Mahmood 100 not out, Luqman Hakeem 25 not out, 2-32, Hamza Khaliq 2-32); SHARK CC 98 in 19.4 overs (Anosh Malik 46, Mohammad Moin 15, Arshad Habib 12; Ahmed Nawaz 3-6, Taimur Mahmood 3-13).—Sports Reporter
Zulqarnain, Amal claim badminton titles
LAHORE: Raja Zulqarnain Haider and Amal Munib won the U-18 men and women titles, respectively as the Punjab Junior Badminton Championship concluded here at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall on Wednesday.
Zulqarnain recovered to beat Muqsit Amir 14-21, 21-15, 21-14 in the final. After losing the first game, Zulqarnain made an impressive comeback with fine serves and blocking to win the remaining two on the trot in just 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, Zulqarnain, partnering Tayyab Shafiq, also claimed the U-18 doubles final when they toppled the Muqsit Amir-Anas Akhtar pair 16-21, 21-15, 21-19.
In the girls’ U-18 final, Amal had an easy sailing against Laiba Masoud in the one-sided final as the former won the battle 21-13, 21-5.
Results (finals):
Boys U-14 singles:
Saad Amir (Lhr) bt Mohammad Ibrahim (Rwl) 21-16, 21-17
Boys U-16 singles:
Raza Ali Adil (Lhr) bt Raja Hassan (Hafizabad) 21-17, 25-23
Men’s U-18 singles:
Raja Zulqarnain Haider (Hafizabad) bt Muqsit Amir (Fsd) 14-21, 21-15, 21-14
Men’s U-18 doubles:
Raja Zulqarnain (Hafizabad)-Tayyab Shafiq (Lhr) bt Muqsit Amir-Anas Akhtar (Fsd) 16-21, 21-15, 21-19
Girls U-16 singles:
Zainab Chaudhry (Lhr) bt Tayyaba Shafiq (Lhr) 21-14, 21-12
Women’s U-18 singles:
Amal Munib (Lhr) bt Laiba Masoud (Lhr) 21-13, 21-5.—Sports Reporter
Taha, Hasheesh in semis
KARACHI: Mohammad Taha Aman set up a semi-final clash with topseed Hasheesh Kumar after he eliminated Paranav Manandhar of Nepal 6-1,7-5 (5) during the Rotary Club Karachi Sport ATF U-14 Super Series Tennis Championship on Wednesday.
Results:
Singles semi-finals: M. Taha Aman bt Pranav Manandhar (Nepal) 6-1, 7-5 (5); Aaraf Hada (Nepal) BT Ahmed Nael Qureshi 6-2, 6-0; Ashar Mir bt Ehtisham Yahya 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Hasheesh Kumar bt Ammaar Ismail Mapara 6-4, 6-0.Doubles main first round: M Taha Aman/Ammaar Ismail Mapara bt Ayan Khan/Taimoor Khan 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles semi-finals: Aarav Hada/Pranav Mahandhar (Nepal) bt M Taha Aman/Ammaar Ismail Mapara 6-2, 6-2.—Agencies
Women’s softball team to be honoured
KARACHI: Karachi’s gold medal-winning women softball team of the NSA Defence Day Softball Championship, held in Khairpur last month, will be awarded prizes and certificates in a reception at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.
Nadeem Omar, the head of Omar Associates and KCCA president, will be the chief guest on the occasion while Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Sindh Haroon Ahmed will preside over the ceremony.
Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2018