LAHORE, July 31: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) outclassed Wapda 3-0 to win the final of the women team event of the 10th Amir Abdullah Khan Rokhri Ranking badminton tournament here on Tuesday.
The NBP opened their account in style when Sara Khan defeated Aneeqa Rana 21-9, 21-13 in the first singles.
Palwasha, pairing with Ayesha Akram, notched up victory against the strong sisters’ pair of Saima-Uzma Butt 22-20, 21-10 to double lead.
Ayesha Akram then sealed the fate of the final, winning the second singles against Saima Manzoor 21-13, 21-17.
In Men's team event, NBP and Wapda have qualified for the final by winning their respective semi-finals.
In the first semi-final, Wapda beat New Khan 3-0.
National champion Wajid Ali carved out a win against Ashraf Masih 21-14, 21-14 to give a perfect start to Wapda. Then pairing with Atiq, Wajid outclassed the pair of Qasim Khan-Azhar Javed 21-16, 21-12 to make it 2-0.
Umar Zeeshan, however, was stretched to three sets to complete the win. He defeated Hashir Bashir 21-16, 19-21, 21-14.
In the second pre-final, the NBP went to full distance in beating Sindh 3-2.
Ahsan Qamar (Sindh) went to three sets to eliminate the challenge of Rizwan Azam. The score was 17-21, 21-18, 21-13.
Ahsan with Imran Mohib consolidated the lead, beating Rizwan Azam-Kashif 23-21, 21-9.
Ijaz Ahmed stopped Sindh's march making it 2-1 after beating Ali Mehdi 21-15, 23-21. He with Atif Nadeem also helped the bankers to restore the parity 2-2, winning the second doubles against Asadullah-Tariq Mahmood 21-17, 21-15.
In the fifth and final match, Atif averted NBP's ouster from the competition, winning the all-important match against Imran Mohib 19-21, 21-18, 21-8.
Results:
Men's team event (quarter-finals):
Wapda beat Pmad 3-0 (Wajid Ali bt Mohammad Ali 21-7, 21-6; Waqas-Rizwan bt Asif Hussain-Mohammad Ali 21-16, 21-9; Umar Zeeshan bt Mohammad Ali 21-13, 21-12).
New Khan bt Punjab 3-0 (Hashir Basheer bt Arsalan Khan 21-8, 21-11; Hashir-Ashraf bt Ahmed-Umer Rabbani 21-12, 21-17; Ashraf Masih bt Adil Haseeb 21-15, 21-12).
Sindh bt Railways 3-0 (Ahsan Qamar bt Waqas Zahid 21-12, 21-17; Ahsan-Imran bt Nabeel-Zohaib 21-14, 23-25, 21-15; Ali Mehdi bt Imran Laeeq 21-13, 21-12).
National Bank bt Fata 3-0 (Rizwan Azam bt Habib Jan 21-7, 21-5; Rizwan-Kashif bt Salman Akbar-Aresh 21-10, 21-7; Atif Nadeem bt Jalil 21-11, 21-12).
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