MINGORA: Hasnain overwhelmed Ubaid 21-8 while Jibran trounced Hamza 21-10 on Thursday in the U-14 category of the four-day Peace Badminton Championship which also saw over a dozen of doubles matches on the first day amid much fanfare and enthusiasm from fans.

Pairs of Bakht Rehman and Ikram, Tariq and Dawood and Salman and Mahbub among others threw up fine performances against their respective opponents in the tournament wherein 50 players play in four age categories including men’s singles, men’s doubles, U-14 and veteran categories.

The championship being held by the District Swat Badminton Association in collaboration with the Initiative for Peace and Development is largely seen as a bid to indulge the youth of Swat in positive and healthy activities apart from promoting local talent.

Earlier, addressing the opening ceremony, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Badminton Association (KPBA) president Zafar Ali Kaka said Swat abounded in badminton talent which needed promotion.

“Presently, there are three players from Swat who play at national level in addition to featuring in international events,” maintained the KPBA president who said that the game needed sponsorship so that more talented players make it to the professional level.

He said that he was grateful to the organisers who indulged young players in healthy activities by taking initiative to hold the event.

“More and more sports activities are required to promote peace in the region for which both government and non-government organisations must come forward,” he further said.

On the other hand, Swat District Badminton Association president Yahya Khan Dawlat Khel said that the event started with the specific objective of offering more and more opportunities to local players.

“The event aims at indulging the youth in healthy activities which will help local talent shine at professional level,” he said.

Also, young promising player Haroon Khan expressed his views, stating: “I love badminton and dream of playing at professional level. This is my first-ever tournament wherein I will try my level best to win the U-14 category.”

Results:

Doubles:

Bakht Rehman and Ikram bt Abbas and Noman 21-10, 22-20; Tariq and Dawood bt Asadullah and Hamid 21-11, 21-15; Salman and Mahboob bt Sohail and Adnan 21-17, 21-12; Atiq and Khalil bt Abdullah and Karman 21-08, 21-10; Bakht Munir and Imtiaz bt Bilal and Shahab 21-08, 21-17; Asjad and Jawad bt Ajmal and Mansoor 21-18; 21-16; Khiyam and yahya bt Shahi and Jamal 21-18, 21-15; Nisar and Idrees bt Dawood and Tariq 21-09, 21-13; Bakht Munir and imtiaz bt Dildar and Wajid 21-13 and 21-08; Ziaullah Khan and Faraz Ahmad bt the pair of Shahab and Naeed 21-08, 21-11.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016