LAHORE: Top seed Aqeel Khan faced strong resistance from Shahzad Khan before moving to the semi-final of the third Shehryar Malik Memorial National Grasscourt Tennis Championship here at the PLTA courts on Thursday.

Others who have also made the last four are Muzammil Murtaza, Mohammad Abid and Yousuf Khan.

Aqeel defeated Shahzad 6-3, 7-6. After winning the first set quite easily, Aqeel struggled as Shahzad staged a fine comeback. Holding their serves, both tied at 6-6 to force a tie-breaker.

Aqeel, proved the better player both in stamina and nerve to win the tie breaker after dropping five points.

Second seed Abid chalked-up a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win against Yasir Khan. Throughout the match, Abid remained superb with his serves and powerful shots giving no time to Yasir to settle down.

Third seed Muzammil overpowered Abid Ali Akbar 7-5, 6-3 while Yousuf outpaced the energetic Mudassar Murtaza 6-4, 6-4.

In ladies’ singles quarter-finals, top seeds Sara Mansoor, Mehek Khokhar, Sarah Mehboob and Noor Malik all marched into the last four.

Sara outclassed Meeram Chaudhry 6-3, 6-0 while Mehak overwhelmed Esha Jawad 6-1, 6-3; Sarah Mehboob showed no mercy for Ashtifila Arif 6-0, 6-0 and Noor Malik whipped Asfa Shahbaz 6-1, 6-0.

In men’s doubles round-of-16, Aqeel and Shahzad ousted Imran Bhatti and Mian Bilal 6-3, 6-3; Malik Abdul Rehman and Heera Ashiq thumped Shakirullah and Azeem Khan 6-0, 6-3; Yousuf and Asadullah overwhelmed Mohammad Minhas and Hamza Khalid 6-4, 6-3; Abid Ali Akbar and Ahmed Chaudhry outclassed Saqib Hayat and Ahmed Babar 6-2, 6-2; Hassan Riaz and Musa Chaudhry overcame Ikramullah and Rashid Khan 6-3, 5-7, 12-10; Mohammad Abid and Waqas Malik outgunned Abdaal Haider and Usman Rafiq 6-2,6-2 while Mudassar Murtaza and his brother Muzammil edged past Ahmad Kamil and Ahmed Asjad 6-4, 7-5.

Other results:

Boys’ U-18 (quarter-finals): Mohammad Mahatir bt Osama Khan 2-6, 6-2, 10-3; Abdullah Adnan bt Hasheesh Kumar 6-3, 6-2; Ahmad Kamil bt Sami Zeb 6-0, 6-2; Nauman Aftab bt Hamid Israr 6-1, 6-1.

U-12 (round-of-16): Hamza Roman bt Yashar Tarar 4-0, 4-0; Haider Ali Rizwan bt Rafay Ataullah 4-1, 4-1; Hania Minhas bt Labika 4-0, 4-0; Ali Jawad bt Asfandyar 4-0, 4-1; Hasnain Ali Rizwan bt Ismail Aftab 4-0, 4-1; Hamza Ali Rizwan bt Taimur 4-0, 4-2.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019