Murad Ali of NBP, Abdur Rehman of Wapda in men's singles and Khaizra Rashid in women singles qualified for the semi-finals of the All Pakistan Shuhada-e-Army National Badminton Tournament being played here at Peshawar Services Club Sunday.
Winner of the bronze medal in the recently South Asian Games in India, and Pakistan once Champion Murad Ali of NBP defeated Azeem Sarwar of Pakistan Wapda in a marathon match played on rattling pace as both Murad and Azeem exhibited some beautiful forceful smashes in front of the jam-packed indoor hall.
Murad won the first set by 21-19 but failed to click in the second won by Azeem Sarwar at 17-21. It was the remaining two set which dominated by Murad and marched into victory at 21-19 and 23-21. The two stretched to full length by giving a tough time to each other as the set was tied more than six occasions at 5-5, 7-7, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 14-14, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20 and at the end Murad got the set and the match when he smashed three consecutive points at 20-all. Azeem apart from taking a point failed to click and thus lost the match.
In the second quarter-final match seeded second in the tournament Abdsur Rehman defeated Moqeet Tahir in another thrilling match, the score was 17-21, 21-19 and 21-18. Abdur Rehman lost the first set but he staged a strong come back and marched into victory at 21-19 and 21-18.
In the ladies singles quarter-final Khaizra Rasheed, who also won a bronze medal for Pakistan in the recently held South Asian Games in India, recorded victory against Ghazala of Punjab and took berth into the semi-finals.
Khaizra Rasheed los the first set by 18-21 but she made it quite easy after winning two consecutive sets by 21-15 and 21-19 against her strong rival from Punjab.
Earlier, in the pre-quarter-finals top seeded Owias of Wapda also recorded victory against Anjum Bashir of SNGPL by 21-15 and 21-19, Awan Abbas of Wapda beat Tayyab Bashir of Punjab by 2-0, Irfan Saeed of Wapda beat Shameer Iftikhar of Punjab by 2-1, the score was 18-21, 21-19 and 21-19, Hashir Bashir of Wapda beat Sabir Hanif of NBP by 2-0, Moqeet Tahir of Wapda beat Shabir Hussain of Punjab by 2-0, and moved into the quarter-finals. Abdur Rehman of Wapda beat Ali Nawab by 21-17 and 21-18, Azeeb Sarwar of Wapda beat Ali Mehdi by 2-0.
In the doubles event second round matches Murad Ali and Azeem Sarwar beat Tayyab and Faiz by 21-19 and 21-17, Waqas Zahid and Ahsan Asif beat Ali Rauf and Hayan by 21-13 and 21-19.
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