Chandigarh, October 30
Three hours of exciting badminton was witnessed at the first Indo-Pak Badminton Test Friendship Series held at the badminton hall, Sector 42, here today. India won the series with a convincing 4-1 margin.
Though Indians had a definite edge over their counterparts in every department of the game, Pakistan shuttlers did their best to give a fight.
Around 500 spectators were present at the arena.
In the first singles tie, Hemant Duggal of India beat Pakistan’s national champion Wajid Ali 15-4,15-12. The match lasted 39 minutes.
Lefthander Wajid lacked concentrate in the first game, which lasted 14 minutes, and went down scoring just four points.
The second game, however, saw fight back by Wajid, who hit powerful smashes but these were not enough to beat Hemant. Hemant won 15-12.
With 1-0 up, it was the turn of Jalandhar shuttler Sachin Ratti, a stroke player of India, who proved his mettle by winning the first game against Zeeshan Omer 15-4.
Sachin was at his best with his backhand push and played winning shots to dominate his opponent.
In the second game, Zeeshan played a few aggressive shots to score some points. However, Sachin won 15-13, consolidating India’s lead to 2-0.
In the first doubles tie, Jaseel P. Ismail and V. Diju had to fight tooth and nail to beat Tahir Ishaq and Waqar Ahmed 17-16, 15-13.
Fans cheered for every point as Indian or Pakistan players battled it out on the court. India won the series 3-0.
In the second doubles tie, which was a mere formality, Rupesh and Sanave Thomas gave a walk over to Wajid Ali and Ashraf Masih.
In the third singles tie, Utsav Mishra of India proved too good for Waqar Ahmed and did not allow his opponent to settle down. He wrapped up the series with a 15-3, 15-8 win.
Later, Mr Vinay Aggarwal, who was the chief guest awarded the prizes, while Mr Vasdev, a badminton promoter, presented mementos to both the teams..
Earlier, the managing director of Goel Autolines inaugurated the meet.
Mr Syed Naqi Mohsin, senior vice-president of the Pakistan Badminton Federation, said it was a homecoming for him, as he was born in Ambala. He wished more such ties in future.
Meanwhile, Mr L.C. Gupta, secretary of the Badminton Association of India, today said Indian team would take part in the Pakistan Satellite Open Badminton tournament to be held at Islamabad from November 26.
Mr Gupta said the initiative taken by the BAI to organise such matches by giving exposure to players and to generate interest in people would go a long way in promoting the sport.
He said Pakistan badminton players had also evinced interest in taking part in more international meets in India.
They would play in the All-Punjab Games at Patiala and Syed Modi International Meet in Lucknow in December, this year.
He said the second part of the current series would be held in Jalandhar on November 1.
