KARACHI, Feb 17 National Bank for the first time swept the team event titles in the 52nd National Badminton Championship, beating Wapda in the men's as well as women's finals in contrasting styles at the PSB Coaching Centre on Monday night.
The bankers dethroned top seed and holders Wapda in five agonising sets to claim the men's crown after a lapse of some 15 years.
Contrary to the men's, the women's faced no difficulty in getting the better of Wapda straight.
Meanwhile, the first round matches of men's and women's singles commenced on Tuesday.
Results
Men's team event final
National Bank bt Wapda 3-2 (Murad Ali bt Umer Zeeshan 21-15, 21-18; Ijaz and Harrison Brent lost to Wajid Ali and Rizwan Rana 13-21, 19-21; Rizwan Azam lost to Wajid Ali 21-18, 9-21, 16-21; Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulheri bt Atiq and Waqas 21-11, 21-11; Atif Nadeem bt Hashir Bashir 21-19; 21-17).
Women's team event final
National Bank bt Wapda 3-0 (Ayesha Akram bt Farzana Ali 20-22, 21-19, 22-20; Ayesha Akram and Palwashah Bashir bt Aneeqa Rana and Sadia Arshad 21-10, 21-9; Palwashah Bashir bt Uzma Butt 21-15, 21-18).
Men's singles first round
Aamir Islam (Wapda) bt Zeeshan 15-21,
21-12, 21-8; Ahsan Qamar (PIA) bt Jansher (NWFP) 21-12, 21-14; Zafar Tasneem (Wapda) bt Imran (Sindh) 21-3, 21-15; Ejaz (NBP) bt Muneer Akram (Wapda) 23-25, 21-11, 21-18; Sabir Hanif (NBP) bt Kashif Majeed (Islamabad) 21-16, 21-19; Ashraf Masih (New Khan) bt Adnan Siddiqui (Railways) 21-7, 18-21, 21-11; Taimoor Arif (Railways) bt Adeel Siddiqui (KPT) 21-8, 21-5; Atif Nadeem (NBP) bt Hayatullah (NWFP) 22-20, 19-21, 21-14; Chaudhary Atiq (Wapda) bt Ahmed (HEC) 21-14, 21-15; Waqas Ahmad (Wapda) bt Shoaib (Railways) 21-12, 21-10; Kashif Sulheri (NBP) bt Faisal Afzal (Wapda) 21-18, 21-12; Murad Ali (NBP) bt Amir (Balochistan) 21-19, 21-16; Ali Mehdi (KPT) walkover Nadeem Zafar (Wapda); Shabbir Hussain (Wapda) bt Hasan Zaidi (Sindh) 21-13, 21-4; Waqas zahid (Railways) bt Shoaib (HEC) 21-23, 21-16, 24-22; Harrison Brent (NBP) bt Nabeel (Railways) 20-22, 21-9, 24-22; Umer Zeeshan (Wapda) bt Danish (Wapda) 21-13, 21-12; Rizwan Azam (NBP) bt M. Ali (PMAD) 21-9, 21-8.
Women's singles first round
Sadia Arshad (Wapda) bt Yusra (Sindh) 21-3, 21-5; Shagufta Ahmed (Sindh) bt Aiman (Wapda) 21-11, 21-14; Nadia (Islamabad) bt Mobin Akhter (Sindh) 21-8, 21-4; Warda Zafar (Sindh) walkover Farukh (NWFP); Shehnaz Shah (Wapda) bt Humera Raees (Sindh) 21-3, 21-2; Anila Rasheed (Wapda) bt Zahida (Railways) 21-10, 21-8; Aneeqa Rana (Wapda) bt Sofia Mughal (Sindh) 21-7, 21-8; Ayesha Akram (NBP) bt Nida (HEC) 21-1, 21-2; Farzana (Wapda) bt Nadia (Islamabad) 21-1, 21-2, Saira Razaq (Wapda) walkover Ambreen (Sindh); Sara Momand (NBP) bt Saleema (Wapda) 21-8, 21-9.
Wednesday's fixtures
Men's singles, women's singles 9.00am; men's doubles, women's doubles 3.00pm; veteran's singles 7.00pm.
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