Umer Jhanghir of KP clinches National Junior Badminton Championship title

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Umer Jhanghir of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa clinched the National Junior Boys title and became the first person in the history of the Games in Pakistan to have National titles in six different age groups.

With the victory at Abdullah Wali Khan sports Complex, Charsadda in the National Junior Badminton Championship, Umer Jhanghir got the honor of becoming the only player of Pakistan to have titles of U14, U15, U16, U17, U18 and U19. Umer comes up with such a remarkable performance that not a single player so far achieved, his jubilant coach Nadeem Khan said in a post final match talk.

“Umer Jhanghir has potential to reach to the international level but for this he should have continue his hard work and should exhibit his commitment because there is much competitions at the international level,” Secretary Sports Abid Majeed, who was the chief guest at the final and prize distribution ceremony, said. He expressed the hope that Umer Jhanghir’s performance clearly indicated to us that soon he (Umer) would win the national senior title as well.

He also lauded the efforts put in by his two international coaches Nadeem Khan and Hayat Ullah as in the U19 singles final it was an all Khyber Pakhtunkhwa affair. Umer Jhanghir defeated Malik Danyaal, also from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, by 2-1 in the final. The score was 23-21, 19-21 and 21-13. Both Malik Danyaal and Umer Jhanghir had made upset as Umer Jhanghir upset Raza Ali of Punjab in the first semi-final and Malik Danyaal shocked Raja Hassan Mujtaba (PB) to reach the grand final.

In the Girls Singles U-19 final National Junior Champion Alja Tariq (Balochistan) recorded the most deserving victory against Hadiqa Aftab (Punjab) by 21-7, 21-4. Alja, a such class player from Balochistan, has her full team members support, did not give much time to Hadiqa Aftab of Punjab in the one-sided final.

In the Girls Single U-17 Final, promising Sumiya Tariq (Army) beat Ammarah Ishtiaq (Sindh) by 21-19, 16-21, 21-10 in a thrilling match while in the Boys Single U17 final Abdul Manan (Army) beat Saad Amir (Punjab) by 22-24, 21-11, 21-16.

In the Boy’s Single U15 final, Zain Bajwa (Punjab) beat Fahad Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) by 21-19, 21-17 in another thrilling match while in the Girls Double U19 final Sumiya Tariq (Army) and Alja Tariq (Balochistan) beat Umama Usman (Army) and Deena Shahzad (Islamabad) by 21-15, 21-10.

It was the Boys Double final wherein both teams from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa qualified for the final. Afnan Khan and Hamza Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) beat Umer Jhanghir and Muhammad Zayad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) by 21-17, 21-11. At the end, Member Provincial Assembly Nisar Mohmand, Secretary Sports Abid Majeed, Deputy Commissioner Swat Junaid Khan, District Sports Officer Charsadda Tehseen Ullah, President KP Badminton Association Zafar Ali Khan gave away trophies, certificates and cash prizes to the position holders.