Rahim, Rameez in Masters Cup final

KARACHI: Abdul Rahim and Mohammad Rameez blasted their way into the final when they defeated Shujaat Ali and defending champion Salman Virk, respectively, in the men’s singles semi-finals of the World Table Tennis Day Masters Cup at Hamidi Hall at Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad on Thursday.
Virk of Railways, who had ousted Pakistan’s top player Asim Qureshi in the quarter-final, failed to live up to expectations against solid Ramiz (WAPDA), who won the game with an enviable ease 4-1.
In the other semi-final, Abdul Rahim of WAPDA outgunned Shujaat Ali (WAPDA) 4-3 after a tough fight. The finals of both men’s and women’s singles will be conducted on Friday (today).
In the women’s singles decider Raheela Kashif of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) will face Ayesha Iqbal of WAPDA.
Raheela had defeated former national champion Shabnum Bilal of HBL 4-3 in the semi-final on Wednesday. In the other pre-final, Ayesha had whipped her teammate Sanam Yasin 4-0.
Men’s singles semi-finals: Abdul Rahim (WAPDA) bt Shujaat Ali (WAPDA) 4-3 (11-1, 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7), Mohammad Rameez (WAPDA) bt Salman Virk (Railways) 4-1 (13-11, 11-4, 15-17, 11-4, 12-10)
Men’s singles play-offs:
Raheel Qureshi (Sindh) bt Faryal Minhas (WAPDA) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-6), Khubaib Ali (Punjab) bt Rehan Javed (OGDCL) 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3), Salman Saleem (HEC) bt Obaid Shah (KP) 3-2 (11-5, 5-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-8), Asim Qureshi (WAPDA) bt Asad Hameed (ISB) 3-2 (9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 12-10, 11-6), Omar Zaka (Islamabad) bt Masood Ali (Railways) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9), Rafiq Sarhdi (NHA) bt Asim Aziz (Railways) 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-9), Faryal Minhas (WAPDA) bt Raheel Qureshi (HEC) 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-8), Mohammad Arbeel (Punjab) bt Sajid Hussain (NHA) 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-6), Hafiz Zeeshan (WAPDA) bt Mohammad Hamza (Punjab) 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-9), Saleem Abbas (WAPDA) bt Tariq Aziz (Islamabad) 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-9), Yasir Bhatti (Railways) bt Faheem Raja

(Punjab) 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 13-11), Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Haseeb Khan (NHA) 3-2 (11-7,, 12-14, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7),
Mohammad Faizan (Punjab) bt Hafiz-ur-Rehman (HEC) 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6), Hafiz-ur-Rehman (HEC) bt Sajid Hussain (NHA) 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-9), Hafiz Zeeshan (WAPDA) bt Rafiq Sarhdi (NHA) 3-0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-9). Women’s singles play-offs: 3/4 place Shahnam Bilal (HBL) bt Sanum Yasin (WAPDA) 3-1 (8-11, 11-2,11-8, 11-9), 5/6 Ghalia Mohsin (HBL) bt Sidra Sattar (WAPDA) 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 12-10), 7/8 Sidra Raheel (HBL) bt Sobia Faryal (WAPDA) 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-7), 9/10 Sadia Falak (WAPDA) bt Louiza Irshad (WAPDA) 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-2), 11/12 Farah Ilyas (HEC) bt Yasmeen Akhtar (Punjab) 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-5), 13/14 Maliha Khurshid (HBL) bt Ayesha Faheem (WAPDA) 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-7), 15/16 Abeera Ali (Sindh) bt Farwa Arif (Punjab) 3-1 (10-12, 11-4, 11-9, 11-6).