Najma-Ul-Saqeeb pairing with Abdul Basit recorded a thrilling victory against Awais and Hamid Azam in the Deputy Commissioner Charsadda Ramadan Sports Festival Badminton event played at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex on Tuesday.
Assistant Commissioner Alvina Faiz was the chief guest on this occasion who also witnessed the final matches. District Sports Officer Charsadda Tehseen Ullah Khan, who himself a former international badminton player and officiated in two South Asian Games in Sri Lanka and Islamabad. International badminton coaches Muhammad Nadeem and Hayat Ullah, District Youth Officer Aamir Khan, players and spectators were also present.
The DC Charsadda Sports Festival has other Games including Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Table Tennis, and Carrom Board besides badminton wherein more than 500 players are taking part.
The final match started on a fast tempo in the Indoor Hall of the beautifully decorated Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex. Najam Ul Saqeeb and Abdul Basit faced tough resistance against both Awais and Hamid Azam in the thrilling three sets battle that lasted for almost one hours and 30 minutes. Awais and Hamid recorded victory in the first set at 19-21 but failed to click in the remaining two consecutive sets won by Najam Ul Saqeeb and Abdul Basit at 23-21 and 27-25. It was the second and third set wherein both Najam Ul Saqeeb and Abdul Basit and Awais and Hamid Azam played very good attacking games. Both the pairs struggle hard for the single points.
In the second set Najam Ul Saqeeb and Abdul Basit saved two set points while in the third and decisive set they saved almost seven match points before marching into victory at 2-1. The match was largely enjoyed by the capacity crowd and players along with the guests.
Earlier, in the first semi-final semi-final Najam Ul Saqeeb and Abdul Basit defeated Salman Khan and Muhammad Saeed by 21-17 and 25-23 while in the second semi-final Awais Khan and Hamid Azam defeated Jalal Khan and Hussain by 21-14, 19-21 and 23-21. A total of 140 players took part in the badminton doubles event.
At the end, the chief guest Assistant Commissioner Charsadda Alvina Faiz distributed the trophies, medals and cash prizes among the position holders. The Football, Table Tennis, Volleyball, and Basketball event continued simultaneously at the same venue.—APP
