Ghazala of Punjab upset Anmol of Wapda in the ladies singles event of the All Pakistan Shuhada-e-Army National Ranking Badminton Tournament being played at Peshawar Services Club Saturday. It was off-day for Anmol of Wapda as she tried her hard to win back but was not allowed by inform Ghazala of Punjab in the 0.7 million tournament jointly being organized by Peshawar Services Club, Directorate of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and KP Badminton Association.
Anmol won the first set by 18-21 but failed to click in the second and third sets win back by Ghazala at 21-19 and 23-21. It was the third set in which both Ghazala of Punjab and Anmol of Wapda exhibited forceful overhead smashes and some good loop serves and attacking responses were also witnessed.
In another second match Bushra Qayyum of Wapda defeated Saima Waqas by 21-19 and 21-18, Huma Javed beat Sidra Hameed by 2-0, the score was 21-19, 21-18, Javeria Tahir of Punjab beat Maryum Shaheen of Islamabad by 21-18 and 21-16, Saira Ikram of Wapda beat Rosheen Ijaz of Sindh by 21-17 and 23-21 in a thrilling battle witnessed by capacity crowd present in the newly constructed indoor badminton hall.
In the other match of the second round Mehmona Mir of Wapda defeated Saba Rasheed by 21-19 and 21-18, Mahoonb Shehzad of Wapda beat Kausar of Punjab by 21-19, 21-18 and took berth into the quarter-finals. South Asian Games bronze medalist and top seeded Khazra Rasheed got walk over against Arifa Hassan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the later did not turn-up for the match. Khazra Rasheed also moved to the quarter-finals.
South Asian Games held recently in India, Murad Ali who won bronze medal, defeated Tahir Khan of Police by 22-20 and 18-21 and 21-11. Murad, the once Pakistan No 1, fully dominated the proceeding and did not allow his rival to play with free hands. Tahir Khan did some resistance when he won the second game but overall he did not have much answer of full forceful smashes. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tahir Shah defeated Basit by 21-18, Wapda Azeem Sarwar beat Dawood of Islamabad by 2-0, the score was 21-19, 21-18, Ali Mehdhi of Wapda beat Waqas of Wapda by 21-19, and 21-18, Muqeet Tarhir of Punjab beat Atiq Chaudhry Of Wapda by 21-15 and 21-17, Sabir Hanif of NBP beat Hamza Saeed by 21-19 and 21-17, Irfan Saeed beat Rizwan by 21-19 and 21-19 while Awan Abbas of Wapda beat Raja Hussain by 21-17 and 21-19, Owais, the Wapda, the second seeded and Pakistan top ranking player, beat Ummad Masood 21-19, 12-21 and 21-19 and took berth into the quarter-finals. In the doubles Masood and Tahir of Police defeated Ali Nawaz and Awan Abbad by 2-0, Subha and third seeded Abdur Rehman beat Moeen and Umair of Sindh by 2-0, Ali Mehdi and Haris of NBP won against Sameer and Waseem of Punjab by 21-19, 21-18. The Secretary of Pakistan Badminton Federation Wajid Ali, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Badminton Association Secretary Haji Amjad and Organizing Secretary Mian Sadaqat Shah were also present on this occasion and witnessed the matches.