ISLAMABAD: Upsets were recorded in quarter-finals of men’s singles and under-18 categories in the Syed Tajammul Abbas Memorial National Ranking Tennis Tournament here on Saturday at the Pakistan Tennis Federation’s complex.

In a men’s singles quarter-final, seventh seed Ahmed Chaudhary made a major upset defeating second seed Mohammad Abid while in the under-18 matches, Talha Zubair and Ahram Atiq registered big upsets of the tournament by eliminating first and second seeds, respectively.

Ahmed beat second seed in the closely-contested three-set match. He won the first set 6-3 by displaying an aggressive game right from the start. In the second set, Abid made a good comeback defeating Ahmed 7-5. However, in the final set, Ahmed built up the winning lead 3-0 and kept the second seed running between the sidelines and sealed the final set 6-2.

Likewise, top seed Aqeel Khan, fourth seed Heera Ashiq and third seed Shahzad Khan also qualified for semi-finals in the men’s singles category matches.

In the boys’ under-18 event, eighth seed Talha Zubair caused a major upset by beating top seed Syed Nofil Kaleem in a well-contested match. Talha registered his win with being score 6-2,7-6(6) while 5th seed Arham Atiq also made a big upset beating second seed Mohammad Mudasir in straight sets 6-3,6-4. Also, Mohammad Muzammil and Hasnain Manzoor registered straight wins against their opponents.

Talha Zubair will face Mohmmad Muzammil while Hasnain Manzoor will play against Arham Atiq.

In the boys’ under-14 category, Ilham Khan, Mir Shahzaib, Saqib Umer and Yousuf Khan moved into the semi-finals while pair Aqeel and Shahzad beat Sanaullah and Heera Ashiq 6-3, 6-4 with the duo of Abid and Usman defeating Wakeel Khan and Ejaz Khan 6-2, 6-3 in the men’s doubles event.

Results: Men’s singles:

Quarter-finals: Aqeel Khan bt Usman Rafiq 6-4, 6-2; Heera Ashiq bt Syed Zohair Raza 6-3, 6-1; Shahzad Khan bt Sanaullah 6-4, 7-5; Ahmed Choudhary bt Mohammad Abid 6-3,6-7(5),6-2

Boys’ U-18:

Quarter-finals: Talha Zubair bt Syed Nofil Kaleem 6-2, 7-6(6); Mohammad Muzamil bt Hamza Bin Asif 6-1, 6-2; Hasnain Manzoor bt Kashan-ul-Haq 6-0, 6-3; Arham Atiq bt Mohmmad Mudasir 6-3, 6-4.

Boys’ U-14:

Quarter-finals: Ilham Khan beat Aqib Umar 4-0, 5-4(4); Mir Shahzaib bt Shehryar Khan 4-2,5-3; Saqib Umar beat Farhan ullah 4-1,4-1; Yousuf Khan bt Shoaib Khan 5-3, 4-0

Ladies singles:

Round robin: Iman Qureshi bt Mahin Aftab 6-1, 6-0; Rida Khalid bt Alina Aftab 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Men’s doubles semi-finals: Aqeel Khan/Shahzad Khan bt Sanaullah / Heera Ashiq 6-3, 6-4; Mohammad Abid /Usman Rafiq bt Wakeel Khan /Ejaz Khan 6-2, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014