LAHORE - Muzammil Murtaza and M Shoaib and Ushna Suhail and Sarah Mehboob entered the men’s and ladies’ singles finals of the 6th Hassan Tariq Rahim National Ranking Tennis Championship 2021 after winning their respective semifinals played here at the Lahore Gymkhana Club tennis courts on Saturday.
In the men’s singles semifinals, Muzamil Murtaza played well against M Abid and won the crucial encounter 6-2, 6-2 while M Shoaib played tremendous tennis against Yousaf Khalil, who overpowered Pakistan tennis star Aqeel Khan in the quarterfinals, and emerged triumphant with a score of 6-2, 6-3.
Pakistan ladies’ champions Ushna Suhail and Sarah Mehboob Khan winning their respective ladies’ singles semifinals and booked berths in the final, where both will take on each other today (Sunday) at 9:30 am. In the first semifinal, Ushna took little time to trounce Esha Jawad 6-0, 6-1 while comeback queen Sarah Mehboob faced tough resistance from Wapda’s Noor Malik before winning the crucial encounter 6-1,7-5. Earlier in the quarterfinals, Noor Malik (Wapda) routed Mehak Khokhar by 6-3, 6-4 and Ushna Suhail beat Asifa Shahbaz 6-2, 6-0.
A mixed doubles exhibition match was also organized by the organizers, where the pair of Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and ladies champion Ushna Suhail excelled and outsmarted the pair of Pakistan No 1 Aqeel Khan and ladies champ Sarah Mehboob by 8-2. The match started on a high pace as both the pairs gave tough time to each other but then Aisam and Ushna started playing aggressive game, which helped them rattle their opponents by 8-2.
The enthralling match was witnessed and enjoyed by a good number of players, their families and tennis lovers. The only final of the day was boys U-18 final, that was contested between Semi Zeb and Abdullah Adnan, and after a good competition, Semi Zeb won it by 6-4, 6-2.