Aqeel, Sarah clinch ranking tennis titles
LAHORE: Pakistan No.1 Aqeel Khan and Sarah Mehboob Khan annexed the men’s and women’s singles titles of the fifth Shehryar Malik Memorial National Grasscourt Tennis Championship here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah on Saturday.
The 41-year-old Aqeel comfortably defeated Mohammad Abid 6-4, 6-1.
Sarah, the comeback queen who just returned to the national circuit after getting married, overwhelmed a spirited Noor Malik 7-5, 6-2 and also clinched the doubles title while partnering Noor as they defeated Mariam Mirza and Zahra Suleman 6-3, 6-2.
Meanwhile, former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik bagged two titles. First he won seniors 50-plus doubles while pairing with Fayyaz Khan to beat the Israr Gul-Arif Feroze duo 6-1, 5-7, 10-8. Rashid was due to partner Aqeel in the seniors 40-plus doubles final, but they were declared joint winners with Nasir Sherazi and Sheharyar Salamat.
The seniors 60-plus doubles title was claimed by Rai Zahid Zafar and Inam-ul-Haq, who beat Brig Ghazanfar and Mohammad Babar 6-2, 6-2.
Abdullah Adnan won the boys U-18 title outsmarting Semi Zeb 6-0, 6-4 while the boys U-18 doubles title was earned by Ahmad Nael/Haider Ali Rizwan who beat Hamid Israr/Hasam Khan 4-1, 4-2.
The girls U-18 title was clinched by Zahra Suleman who routed Ashtafila Arif 6-3, 6-1. The boys U-16 title went to Bilal Asim who thumped Haider Ali Rizwan 6-2, 6-0.
Ahtesham Humayun won the boys U-14 title against Asad Zaman 6-4, 3-0 as the latter retired. The boys U-14 doubles title was claimed by Ahtesham and Hussnain Ali Rizwan who overpowered Asad and Shehryar Anees 4-1, 4-1.
The boys/girls U-12 final was claimed by Hamza Ali Rizwan who beat Omer Jawad 7-6, 3-6, 10-7 while Hamza Ali Rizwan and Zohaib Afzal Malik defeated Nabeel Ali Qayum and Abdur Rehman 1-4, 4-0, 10-6 in the boys/girls U-12 doubles decider.
Abdur Rehman beat Hajra 4-2, 4-1 to win the boys/girls U-10 title. The U-8 gold medal was secured by Mustafa Uzair Rana, silver by Aiman Rehan and bronze by Ahsan Bari. The U-6 gold medal was clinched by Ayesha Iqbal, silver by Daniyal Afzal Malik and bronze by Mamoon Bari.
Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2021