Sports Bulletin

Badminton, Murad Ali defeated heavy weight Sankeerth in straight games By Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's wonder boy Murad Ali made the biggest upset in the Yonex Sunrise Pakistan International Series Badminton Tournament-2019, as he ousted top seed Canadian B. R. Sankeerth in straight games in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals played here at Rodham Hall, Pakistan Sports Complex on Friday. It was a day to remember for Pakistan, as Murad, who is also former national champion gave home crowd something to cheer about, it was pack to capacity crowd present at the venue, cheering for both players, as Murad started the first game with a bang and kept his opponent under pressure, he never allowed top seed to settle down and throughout kept a sizable lead, although in the later stages of the game Sankeerth did recover, however, it was too little too late, as Murad clinched the first game 21-16. Murad kept same pressure in the second game as well and he raced to take 13-7 lead, but at that stage, Murad got relaxed and allowed Sankeerth liberty and space, which was more than enough for the top seed, who was playing for pride and played some brilliant badminton and close the gap to 12-13, Murad woke up in time and again got lead at 17-12, but once again Sankeerth bounced back and reduced the margin to 16-17, then it was 20-20, but Murad kept his cool, composure and with the help of massive crowd support, Murad manage to win the second game 23-21. While another upset was witnessed, when Amir Saeed overcame Canadian Muslim guy Hussain Ali in straight games 2-0. Amir won the first game, Amir completely outclassed his opponent with wonderful skills, superb exhibition of badminton was witnessed during the match, Amir took the first game 21-3 and he went onto take second game 21-5 to book place in the quarterfinals. While in the other matches of the morning session, Thailand's Saran Jamsri beat Raja M Zulqarnain Haider in straight games winning 21-10 and 21-7, Milan Ludik of Check Republic beat M Irfan Saeed Bhatti 2-1 in the arguably best match of the tournament, Irfan stunned Ludik by winning the first game 21-19, but Ludik bounced back to win next two games, 21-17 and 21-14 to move into quarterfinals,  Awais Zahid beat Abdur Rehman in straight games winning 21-9 and 21-17, Dipesh Dhami Nepal beat Muhammad Ali Larosh in straight games winning 21-19 and 21-11, Georges Julien Paul Mauritius beat Muhammad Muqeet Tahir in straight games winning 21-11 and 21-13, Howard Shu of USA beat Pakistan's Azeem Sarwar in one-sided affair, winning 21-12 and 21-12.