PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s No. 5 Yousuf Ali of the PAF upset Saqib Umer of the SNGPL in a three-set final of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tennis Cup played here on Friday.

Yousaf and Saqib played well against each other and some beautiful smashes and ace services were also witnessed. Yousuf lost the first set by 5-7 before playing a 6-6 against Saqib Umer but he played with great determination and managed to win two consecutive sets by 6-4, 7-5. The final lasted for one hour and 50 minutes and both the players played an attacking game with lots of rallies, baseline shorts and ace services.

In the Under-12 category, Pakistan’s No. 1 Hamza Roman beat Shasawar Khan by 6-4 and 6-3.

Both Hamza and Shasawar Khan played well and received thundering applauses from the spectators.

In the Under-14 final, Uzair Khan upset Kashan Umer, the top-seeded in a marathon 7-6, 4-6 and 6-4. The match lasted for two hours and 10-minutes and both Uzair and Kashan displayed an excellent game.

In the men’s doubles, Ijaz Khan and Barkat Ullah of Police recorded a victory against Yousaf Ali and Shoaib of the PAF in another thrilling match. The score was 5-7 (6-6), 6-4 and 6-3. Ijaz and Barkat Ullah did not give much time to top guns Yousaf Ali and Shoaib of the PAF to stage a comeback and thus marched into victory.

At the end, the chief guest gave away trophies and cash prizes. The winner of the men’s singles was awarded Rs10,000 and runners-up Rs8,000. The Under-12 winner got Rs3,000 and the runner-up was awarded Rs2,500. Under-14 winner got Rs6,000 and the runner-up was awarded Rs5,000. The quarter-finalists and semi-finalists were also awarded Rs3,000 each and the doubles winners got Rs8,000 and the runners-up got Rs6,000 while the quarter-finalists and semi-finalists of the doubles were awarded Rs4,000 each.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2019