Mahoor Shahzad of Pakistan loses his Olympic badminton opening in Tokyo.
M. Shahzad Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Mahoor Shahzad, a badminton player from Pakistan, opened his country’s Olympic campaign in Tokyo on Saturday, losing in straight sets against Akane Yamaguchi, the world’s number five player. The scores were 21-3 and 21-8.
Mahoor’s first-round, best-of-three match against a Japanese opponent lasted all of 23 minutes, with the Japanese player easily taking two of the three games. Yamaguchi won the opening game 21-3 in about 10 minutes.
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In Spite of this, Mahoor fought back in the Second Game, Ultimately Losing by a score of 21-8.
Mahoor, a shuttler from Pakistan, was never able to win two games in a row against his Japanese opponent, a stat that speaks volumes about the latter’s domination in the match.
In the meantime, Yamaguchi had streaks of eight and seven consecutive points in the first and second games, respectively.
In contrast to Yamaguchi, who scored 18 and 15 points with her service in the first and second games, respectively, Mahoor was only able to score two points with her service during the entire match.
On July 27, Mahoor will take on the British player Kirsty Gilmour.
His father, Shahzad, had previously told The Express Tribune that his son Mahoor’s participation in the Olympics was a great honour for Pakistan’s top badminton player.
She’s not only the first Pakistani to compete in Olympic badminton, but she’s also carrying the country’s flag. Shahzad told The Express Tribune, “It’s a dream come true. It’s a major deal for any Pakistani to even secure a position in the Olympics.
To represent Pakistan, Mahoor had been Doing so for a While.
She first gained attention for her accomplishments on the national stage, and then she set her sights on competing internationally. She competed for Pakistan in the 2018 Asian Games and the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal.
Her father said that she has made him proud not only as a father, but also as a man in Pakistan and a badminton player, adding that she was ranked 133rd in the world as recently as June.
I’m immensely proud of her, as no badminton player, male or female, had ever before made it into the Olympics. But she managed to pull it off.
Looking back on Mahoor’s upbringing, during which she was sporty and played with her older sister, Shahzad commented, “I can say that a girl did defeat the boys in this.”
Mahoor’s qualification for the Tokyo Olympics was announced by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) last month, and POA chief Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan offered his congratulations.
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Conclusion
The President of the Pakistan Olympic Association, Lt. General (Ret.) Syed Arif Hasan, congratulated Mahoor Shahzad and thanked the POA Secretariat and Wajid Ali of the Pakistan Badminton Federation for their diligence in completing the necessary procedures.
The official statement read, “The Pakistan Olympic Association has formally informed the International Olympic Committee and the BWF of its acceptance of an Invitational Place.”
