LAHORE, May 12: Defending champions Allied Bank Limited (ABL) and Wapda reached the final of the 42nd National Table Tennis Championship men’s team event at the Iqbal Park Sports Complex Sunday.

Wapda also qualified for the final in the women’s category beating Army 3-0. However, the reigning champions ABL were ousted by Habib Bank Limited (HBL) 3-1 in the other semifinal.

In the men’s event ABL defeated ADBP 3-1, while Wapda beat HBL 3-1.

National champion and international Farjad Saif put ABL ahead by winning the first match 11-5, 11-8, 11-4.

 ABL’s other international Aasim Qureshi, struggled to make the score 2-0. He had to go the full distance to beat Balal Yasin 11- 4, 9-11, 5-11, 14-12, 11-6. Kashif Razzaq had an easy victory over Irfan Pirzada to complete ABL’s win. Kashif won with the score 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.

In the second semifinal, Ali Faisal gave Wapda the lead defeating Ahmad Hasan 12-10, 11-5, 11-6. Salim Abbas made it to 2-0 for Wapda, outplaying Yasir Bhatti 11-6, 11-9, 11-6.

HBL tried to make a comeback when Aasim Aziz outwitted Adnan Mushtaq after a five-set match 9-11, 11-5, 11-8, 6-11, 11-3. Wapda’s Ali Faisal recovered to beat Yasir Bhatti in five sets also, to put his team in the final. Faisal had lost the first two sets but won the remaining three in a row. The final score was 9-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-8.

In the ladies category section, Shabnum Balal played a key role in HBL’s commendable victory against ABL. Shabnum won two matches. She also defeated national champion Ghazala Roohi.

Shabnum beat Raheela Kashif 11-6, 11-7, 11-8. Ghazala, however, restored the parity (1-1) by beating Shama Naz 11-7, 11-8, 11-7. Sania Qaiser again put HBL ahead 2-1 when she defeated Naila Anjum in closely contested match 7-11, 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8. Shabnum made a comeback to beat strong rival Ghazla 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8.

Wapda’s Louiza Arshad dropped the second set before beating Samyab Aalam (Army) 13-11, 11-13, 11-6, 15-13 in the second semifinal. Tayyaba Gull helped Wapda to forge ahead 2-0 when she mustered win against Mehtab Alam 12-10, 11-8, 11-5. Asia Batool made the score 3-0, outplaying Rabab Aalm 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11- 5.

Later, HBL defeated ADBP 3-0 to earn the third position in the men’s team events. PWD beat Lahore to earn the fifth spot. Faisalabad defeated Karachi to secure the seventh position.

In the ladies team event, ABL defeated Army 3-0 to get the third position.

Meanwhile, the men’s singles competitions also started on Saturday evening the results of which are under:

Jahangir (Lahore) bt Asama (Bahawalpur) 11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5; Dawood Kamal (Wapda) bt Naveed (Multan) 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-7; Omar Haroon (Peshawar) bt Shan (Gujranwala) 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11- 6; Saifullah (OGDC) bt Muhammad Arif (Azad Kashmir) 11-3, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6; Ilyas Ahmad (PTV) bt Aftab (Azad Kashmir) 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9; Mazhar bt Hamid (Army) 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6; Sher Ali Zaidi (OGDC) bt Tariq 17-15, 13-11, 4-11, 11-6; Sajid Husain (Wapda) bt Asif Iqbal (Peshawar) 11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9; Muhammad Farooq (Rawalpindi) bt Kashif (Gujranwala) 11-2, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6; Aamir Afzal (PTV) bt Faizan (Sargodha) 11-4, 11-5, 5- 11, 11-8; Ali Shah (Karachi) bt Shoaib (Azad Kashmir) 11-7, 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 11-4.