JEDDAH, 12 April — Die-hard Abdullah, Ahmed, Ashit and Anuja earned hard-fought victorises in the singles and swaggered the semifinals of the LG Cup table tennis tournament which will come to close with the finals today.

The final and semifinals of this two-month long tournament will be played on the same day at 4 p.m. at the Al-Hamrah Sofitel Hotel and the prize distribution ceremony will be held after the match.

The first quarterfinal was played between Abdullah Mouri of Jeddah Inter.Contental Hotel and Syed Shah Alam of IAP. It was very exciting match. Abdullah showed his class as he defeated Shah Alam after a tough fight. Abdullah won two sets out of three.

The second quarterfinal was played between Ahmed El-Emir of JIH and Waleed of TIS Team One. Ahmed played a gem of his game and defeated Waled by winning straight two sets.

The third quarterfinal was played between Ashit of DHL and Balbeer of AlSuhaimi Pumps, in which Ashit had an easy win. He won in straight sets.

The fourth quarterfinal was played between Anuja of DHL and Rida of Jeddah Graphic Center. The agile Anuja maintained his supremacy and kept Rida almost motionless and won the match in straight sets.

Earlier, in the first round, DHL’s Ashit received a walkover as Samual of Blue Birds did not show up. Shafiq Ahmed of Sarawat defeated Ghulam Mirza of Al-Esayi United in straight sets 21-l and 21-4 which obviously reflected difference in standard of game. Shafiq Ahmed had an easy win.

First round was also played by VIP Travel Club vs. Med NetGulf, in which VlP’s Hazim won the set. Electronic Workshop played against Saudi National Insurance Company (SNlC) and Mansoor Abdul Rehman of Electronics Workshop defeated Asadullah Ghalib of SNIC in straight two games.

The singles matches started at 3 p.m. and lasted till 9:30 p.m. It was a tiring day but a day of high quality table tennis. Outstanding performances by Mansoor, Shah Alam and Ashit were enjoyed by the spectators. The day eneded at quarterfinals.

Hasan of TIS Team Two defeated Raees Ahmed of Electronic Workshop in straight two games and won the match. Mohammad of Tokyo Marine defeated Dr. Rashid Ansari of MedNet Gulf in the first two sets. Saqib of Juffali defeated Munir of Al-Hamra Sofitel Hotel in straight sets.

Balbeer Singh of Al-Swaimi Pump Systems played against Yousri Mohammad of Riyadh House Est. and proved his superiority of table tennis. Balbeer won the match playing all three sets. Yousri won the first set with the margin of 21-15, but Balbeer fought back and won the rest of the sets. Balbeer, played fantastic back hand strokes and rebounded some speedy shots. The outstanding matches in the second round were played between Jeddah Inter.Continental Hotel vs. Sarawat Super Stores, VIP Travel Club vs. Tokyo Marine and Royal Sun Alliance vs. Riyadh House Est.

In round three best matches were played between Ashit of DHL vs. Mansoor of Electronic Shop which was won by Ashit. Balbeer of Al-Suhaimi Pumps defeated Mohammed of Tokyo Marine winning two sets and loosing one. Balbeer with this victory qualified for the quarterfinals. Rida of Jeddah Graphic Center performed very well against Sudeep of Royal Sun Alliance and won two sets out of three. With this victory Rida qualified for quarterfinals.

The best of table tennis has come out in the residents of Jeddah as the First LG Table Tennis Invitational is nearing to an end. In the midst of cheers and buck-ups participating teams performed very well, maintaining high standards of discipline.

All the players and spectators appreciated the efforts of JTTL and LG Electronics for organizing this tournament. Most players complimented the organizing committee and congratulated Asadullah Ghalib President Jeddah Table Tennis League for the success of this tournament.