KARACHI Pakistan's top doubles badminton combination of Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri won the Syrian International Series 2010 after a 21-18, 21-18 victory over Ebrahim Jafar Al Sayed Jafar and Setiawan Heri of Bahrain. The 147th ranked Pakistani pair had earlier stunned favourites Shahhosseini Ali and Kheradmandi Mohammad Reza of Iran (ranked 77) 21-13, 19-21, 21-9 to secure an unexpected place in the finals.
Top players of Iran, Philippine, Jordan, Singapore, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Vietnam, Bahrain, Turkey, Libya and Kazakhstan participated in the event.
Rizwan Azam and Kashif Sulehri also won the doubles title at Maldives International Badminton Challenge 2010 held earlier in May.
The wins will certainly boost the doubles ranking of the two players in the international arena and it is expected that they may find a place among the elite top 100 combinations, according to Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF). -PPI
