National Badminton Championships: WAPDA clinch men’s, women’s team event titles

KARACHI: WAPDA were crowned champions of both men’s and women’s team events of the National Badminton Championships being held in Lahore on Sunday.

In the men’s team event final, WAPDA defeated National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 3-2, while in the women’s team event decider, WAPDA crushed Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in straight games 3-0.

The men’s team event final turned out to be a gripping affair as both sides demonstrated great resolve.Irfan Saeed, Pakistan’s leading shuttler, provided WAPDA a 1-0 lead when he tamed experienced Rizwan Azam 2-1. After losing the first set 17-21, Irfan fought back smartly, lifting the next two games 21-16, 21-10 to seal a comfortable victory.

However, in the doubles, NBP did a fine job as their pair of Rizwan and Kashif got the better of WAPDA’s duo of Irfan and Raja Hasnain 2-1 to level the score.After losing the first set 18-21, NBP’s pair staged a solid fight-back, beating WAPDA’s key players 21-13, 21-15 to level the score. In the reverse singles, international Murad Ali of NBP defeated Azeem Sarwar of WAPDA 21-17, 19-21, 24-22 to take 3-2 lead. But WAPDA’s pair of Azeem and Attique whacked Murad and Ijaz 21-17, 21-14 to once again level the score 3-3. Awais Zahid of WAPDA then got the better of Danyal Ali of NBP 21-15, 21-15 to seal a fantastic victory for his side.

Meanwhile, the women’s team event decider turned out to be a one-sided affair with WAPDA’s players showing more maturity over SNGPL’s brigades, winning the fixture in straight games. Promising international Mahoor Shehzad gave a bright start to WAPDA when she upstaged Zubaira of SNGPL 21-7, 21-16 in the first game. WAPDA’s pair of

Mahoor and Saima then whacked Ghazala and Zubaira of 21-16, 21-7 to stretch the lead. Sehra Akram of WAPDA then completed the rout after beating Javeria Tahir of SNGPL 21-8, 21-10.

Other results: Men singles 1st round: Uaakeph (HEC) bt Ammar Masood (HEC) 15-21, 24-22, 21-14, Raja Hasnain (WAPDA) bt Ahmad Janjua (Army) 21-11, 10-8,

Aoun Abbas (WAPDA) bt Hamza (KP) 15-21, 21-14, 21-12, Ahmad Tariq (SNGPL) bt Shujaat Ali Khan (WAPDA) 21-17, 21-18, Faizan Ahmad (WAPDA) bt Rehman (KP) 21-16, 21-12, M Ali Larosh (SNGPL) bt Tahir Khan (Police) 21-18, 20-22, Shabbar Hussain (WAPDA) bt M. Attique (WAPDA) 19-21, 21-17, 21-16, Soban Jamil (WAPDA) bt Usama Shafi (Punjab) 21-9, 21-10, Tahir Shah (KP) bt Sabir Hanif (NBP) 21-10, 16-21, 21-16, M Waqas (WAPDA) bt Danyal Ali (NBP) 22-20, 21-12, Adeel Anjum (Army) bt Hayat Ullah (Police) 21-13, 21-15, Ali Mehdi (WAPDA) bt Ahmer Jalal (Punjab) 21-11, 15-21, 21-15, Ahsan Asif (WAPDA) bt Ali Rauf Mughal (Railways) 21-18, 21-19, Shahmeer Iftikhar (SNGPL) bt Talha Khalid (Punjab) 21-6, 21-15, Gohar Azam (Punjab) bt Ali Nawab (WAPDA) 21-12, 13-21, 21-11, Hashir Bashir (WAPDA) bt Ahsan Rana (KPT) 20-22, 21-15, 21-16, Shehroz Jamil (WAPDA) bt Rizwan Azam (NBP) 21-15, 21-11, Muteeb Sohail (HEC) bt Ali Chishty (Army) 24-22, 21-12, M. Rizwan (WAPDA) bt Raja Zulqarnain (Punjab) 21-9, 21-12, Haroon Rehman (Police) bt Khalil (KP) 21-16, 21-18, Waqas Zahid (WAPDA) bt M. Ijaz (NBP) 21-18, 21-15, Muqeet Tahir (HEC) bt Abuzar Bhatti (HEC) 21-11, 21-13, Wadood Islam (WAPDA) bt Arslan Khan (Punjab) 21-10, 21-15, Men Singles 2nd Round: Irfan Saeed (WAPDA) bt Uaakeph (HEC) 21-17, 21-16, Raja Hasnain (WAPDA) bt Aoun Abbas (WAPDA) 19-21, 21-8, 21-14, Abdul Rehman (WAPDA) bt Ahmad Tariq (SNGPL) 21-13, 21-14, M Ali Larosh (SNGPL) bt Faizan Ahmad (WAPDA) 22-20, 21-11, Azeem Sarwar (WAPDA) bt Shabbar Hussain (WAPDA) 21-11, 21-12, Soban Jamil (WAPDA) bt Tahir Shah (KP) 21-17, 21-13, Awais Zahid (WAPDA) bt Noman (SNGPL) 21-15, 21-17, Waqas Ahmad (WAPDA) bt Adeel Anjum (Army) 21-15, 21-16, Ahsan Asif (WAPDA) bt Shahmeer Iftikhar (SNGPL) 13-21, 21-13, 21-15, Ali Mehdi (WAPDA) bt Ahsan Qamar (PIA) 21-14, 26-24, Hashir Bashir (WAPDA) bt Gohar Azam (Punjab) 21-17, 21-17, Amir Saeed (WAPDA) bt Shehroz Jamil (WAPDA) 21-16, 21-16, Muteeb Sohail (HEC) bt M. Rizwan (WAPDA) 21-11, 12-21, 21-19, Anjum Bashir (SNGPL) bt Haroon Rehman (Police) 21-12, 21-15, Muqeet Tahir (HEC) bt Waqas Zahid (WAPDA) 21-12, 21-16, Murad Ali (NBP) bt Wadood Islam (WAPDA) 21-12, 18-21, 21-14.