Mahoor stuns rival to move into final

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mahoor Shahzad pulled off an upset to blast her way into the final of the women’s singles competitions on the penultimate day of Pakistan International Series Badminton tournament at Liaquat Gymnasium in Islamabad on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Hafiz Mohammad Irfan Bhatti and Rizwan Azam lost their men’s singles semi-finals.

The 21-year-old Karachi-based Mahoor, whose world ranking is 516, did a fine job to keep Pakistan’s gold medal hopes alive when she defeated world ranked 225 Thi Phuong Thuy Tran of Vietnam with the set score of 21-16, 21-4.

In the other semi-final, Sehra Akram of Pakistan lost to Hasini Nausaka Ambalangodage of Sri Lanka 2-0 with the game score being 21-16, 21-04.

It was not a fine day for the Pakistan’s two experienced shuttlers Rizwan Azam and Hafiz Ifran who fell in the semi-finals. Rizwan was undone by Emre Lale of Turkey 21-16, 21-7, while Hafiz Irfan lost his semi-final to Duc Phat Le of Vietnam 17-21, 21-12, 21-12.

In the men’s doubles semi-finals, which was an all Pakistan affair, the pair of Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri prevailed over Mohammad Attiq and Awais Zahid 21-19, 21-17. In the other semi-final, Hafiz Mohammad Irfan and Azeem Sarwar overwhelmed Le Thanh Lam and Quang Dinh Tran of Vietnam 21-15, 21-13.

In the women’s doubles semi-finals, also an all Pakistan show, Sehra Akram and Huma Javed defeated Sara Mohmand and Saba Rasheed 21-17, 21-15, while Palwasha Bashir and Khizra Rasheed got the better of Saima Waqas and Mahoor Shahzad 21-15, 21-19.

In the mixed doubles semi-finals, Ratnajit Tamang and Nangsal Tamang of Nepal overpowered Bishnu Katwal and Sunayana Mukhiya of Nepal 21-17, 21-07 to make it to the final. In the other pre-final, the pair of Dipesh Dhami and Shova Gauchan of Nepal overpowered Waqas Ahmed and Saima Waqas of Pakistan 21-17, 23-21.

The federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) would witness the finals on Sunday (today).