Ali Mehdi wins maiden national badminton title

KARACHI: Following a 12-year-long wait, Ali Mehdi won his maiden crown in men’s singles, while Mahoor Shehzad romped to her third successive title triumph in women’s singles as the 56th National Badminton Championship concluded at Lahore on Thursday.

In the men’s singles final, Ali of WAPDA dethroned Murad Ali of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) 2-1 with the set scores of 21-13, 19-21, 21-19. Eighth seed Ali was very happy with his first crown at the senior level. “After a 12-year struggle I finally clinched the national title,” Ali told ‘The News’.

“Before this I had to my credit four age-group titles. At the senior level I have reached semi-finals ten times,” said the 26-year-old Ali, who lives in Karachi.

Murad said that he lost the final because of a fitness issue.“I played the final with fever and sore throat that created problems for me. I struggled in the event throughout due to sickness,” Murad said.

Mahoor crushed Ghazala Siddique of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) 21-5, 21-8.Mahoor said she felt a bit nervous in the start but then recovered. “I took control of the situation after some time and everything went well later,” Mahoor told this correspondent.

“I was training for the Olympic qualifiers and that helped me a lot in this event. In the semi-final, I beat Sahar Akram of WAPDA 21-8, 21-5 and in the final I defeated Ghazala almost with the same score. So it seems that I have improved my game,” said Karachi-born Mahoor.

In the men’s doubles final, the pair of Attique Chaudhry of WAPDA and Raja Hasnain of NBP beat Awais Zahid (WAPDA) and Raja Zulqarnain (NBP) 14-21, 21-16, 21-7.