PESHAWAR-Shoaib Riaz stunned current national Under-19 Champion Zohaib Khan Khalil in a thrilling encounter to enter the 6th Nazim Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Badminton Championship semifinals here at Tariq Wadood Indoor Hall on Monday.

Shoaib, hailing from Bannu, played well and did not give much time to his strong rival Zohaib in the marathon three-set battle. Shoaib upset Zohaib 2-1, as the score was 21-18, 19-21 and 21-18. Besides him, Haroon, Masood and Hamza Ibrahim also moved into the semifinals. Haroon defeated Tahir 2-0, 21-16 and 21-16, Masood routed Nadeem Khan 2-0, 21-16 and 21-17 and national junior champion Hamza Ibrahim defeated Basit of Swat 2-1, 15-21, 21-18 and 21-19.

Another upset was witnessed in the men’s doubles, when Haseenb Khan and Haroon of Bannu stunned Tahir and Masood 2-1, the score was 21-17, 15-21 and 21-19. Masood and Tahir, both from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, had been winning the doubles events for the last three consecutive years. Shoaib/Khasif Bannu beat Fazal Rehman/Tehsil Ullah Mardan 2-0, 21-19, 21-17, Nadeem/Basit beat Amin/Shakir Ullah 2-1, 21-23, 21-19 and 23-21 while Hayat Ullah/Shakeel thumped Yasir/Jawad 2-0, 21-19 and 21-16.

In the women’s quarterfinal, Arifa of Swabi beat Kainat of Abbottabad by 2-0, the score was 21-19, 21-18 while Iqra of Swabi routed Rani of Abbottabad 2-0, 21-16 and 21-15, Urooj of Mardan downed Hadi of Abbottabad 2-0, 21-19 and 21-18, Urooj of Peshawar outpaced Hina of Abbottabad 2-0, 21-18 and 21-18, Javeria beat Maryum of Abbottabad 2-0, 21-15 and 21-17, Nayyab of Mardan outsmarted Fatima of Peshawar 2-0, 21-17 and 21-16 and Aqsa of Swabi outplayed Umbar of Peshawar.