The Under-16 Talent Hunt Programme Inter-Division Table Tennis Championship culminated in style when Lahore’s Abu Bakar and Abeera defeated their respective opponents to win Boys and Girls U-16 Singles titles at Nishtar Park Sports Complex (NPSC) Gymnasium Hall on Friday.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail congratulated the title winners in Under-16 Talent Hunt Programme Inter-Division Table Tennis Championship boys and girls singles event. He advised the runners up and other position holders to improve their game further for next competitive events.
Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Assistant Director Zarina Waqar, Administrator NPSC Gymnasium Hall Mustfa Shah, Chief Sports Consultant Hafeez Bhatti, President Punjab Table Tennis Association Irfanullah Khan and other officials were also present on this occasion.
Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar awarded trophies and medals to winners and other position holders at the closing ceremony. Under-16 Talent Hunt Programme Inter-Division Table Tennis Championship was organised under the auspices of Punjab Sports Department as part of SBP’s Annual Sports Calendar Programme.
In the Boys U-16 Singles final match, Lahore’s Abu Bakar edged out Bahawalpur’s Anas Muneeb in a 5-set thrilling final by 3-2 with the score of 5-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-8 and 11-9. Anas Muneeb won the first set convincingly 11-5 but Lahore’s Abu Bakar settled down in the second set and won it by 14-12. Muneeb again took the lead by winning the third set by 11-8. After conceding 2-1 lead, Abu Bakar exhibited plenty of maturity in the remaining part of title clash winning the two consecutive sets that sealed title victory for him.
The third position in the Boys U-16 Singles event went to Sahiwal’s Nabeel, who thrashed Lahore’s Rehan by 3-0 with the set score of 11-9, 11-9 and 11-5.
In the Girls U-16 Singles title clash, Lahore’s Abeera dominated the proceedings most of the time and won the title encounter 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 and 11-9. After losing second set narrowly, Abeera regrouped her energies and annexed the next two sets comfortably. Sargodha’s Esha finished third in the tournament after defeating Mariam Asim in the classification match.
Earlier, in Boys U-16 Singles first semifinal match, Lahore’s Abu Bakar defeated Sahiwal’s Nabeel by 3-1 (11-5, 12-14, 11-7 and 11-9) while Anas Muneeb of Bahawalpur emerged triumphant in the second semifinal by 3-0 (11-5, 12-10 and 11-9) against Lahore’s Rehan.