HBL, Wapda setup final showdown in Women team event
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR—Arch rivals HBL and Wapda setup final showdown in the Women Team Event of the 45th National Table Tennis Championship being played here at PSB Coaching Center on Saturday.
Before the re-start of the matches, after two-day rest the players and officials observed one minute silence as mark of respect for charismatic leader and daughter of the East Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who was assissinated on Dec 27 during her election rally at Liaqat Bagh.
Earlier, defending Champion HBL in Women Team event, defeated strong Punjab-A team in straight sets. Top seed and Pakistan No.1 Ghalia Khursheed defeated Yasmin by 11-13, 11-4, 11-3 and 11-2. Ghalia lost the first set against Yasmin as both stretched to 13-11 before leveling the set at 7-7, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11.
In the second singles Shabnum beat Mobeena by 3-0, the score was 11-3, 11-6 and 11-4 while in the third singles Sadia beat Madiha by 11-4, 2-11, 14-12 and 11-5.
In the second semi-final Wapda faced tough resistance against Pakistan Army team. Although the match decided in three-set battle but the players of Army gave tough resistance to strong Wapda players.
Sadia Falaksher beat Rubab Alam by 11-9, 11-9, 9-11 and 11-8, Luiza Irshad beat Seemab Alam, elder sister of Rubab Alam, by 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 11-5 while in the last single of the best of five match, Aisha Iqbal beat Yasmin Hanif by 11-3, 11-8, 17-19 and 11-7.
In the Men’s team event defending champion Wapda, HBL, Punjab-A and Punjab-B took berth into the semi-finals after recording victories against their respective rivals in the quarter-finals.
In the first quarter-finals, Wapda beat Pakistan Railways by 3-0, Asim Qureshi beat Awais Hussain by 11-5, 11-3 and 11-5, Pakistan No.1 Bilal Yasin beat Suleman Virk by 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 6-11 and 11-8 and Ali Faisal beat Rameez Khan by 3-0, the score was 11-6, 11-3, and 11-7.
In the second quarter-final, HBL beat Sindh by 3-0, Shahzad Waseem, Yasir Bhutti, Asim Aziz beat Asim Hussain, Atta Abbas and Naved Nazir in straight sets and moved into the semi-finals.
In the third quarter-final Punjab-A beat PWD by 3-1, Shujat Ali lost to Asif Razaq by 11-8, 11-5, 11-7, Arshad Tehsin beat Mohsin Raza by 3-1, the score was 11-5, 4-11,11-7, 11-8, Farooq Mustafa beat Nadir Sohail by 11-8, 11-8, and 11-6 and in the reverse singles Arshad beat Asif Razaq by 8-11, 11-6, 11-3 and 11-5.
In the last quarter-final Punjab-B beat HEC by 3-0, Asim beat Mubashir by 11-6, 14-16, 13-11, 11-9, Rafiq Sarhadi beat Awais Ahmed by 7-11, 11-6, 11-4 and Abdul Rahim beat Amar Ali by 11-9, 12-10 and 11-9.