LAHORE   -   Muhammad Abid will take on Heera Ashiq in the final of the Servaid Punjab Open Tennis Championship 2019 as both the top seeds won their respective semifinals played here at the PLTA courts on Friday.

The first semifinal of the men’s singles proved to be a one-sided affair as top seed M Abid overwhelmed young Ahmad Kamil in straight sets. Abid was off to flying start as he put enormous pressure on his opponent and didn’t allow him to score even a single point in the first set, winning it by 6-0. Although Abid faced little resistance in the second set yet he easily outclassed him by 6-3 to register easy victory and also booked berth in the final.

Seasoned campaigner Heera Ashiq had to struggle hard to overcome spirited Ahmad Babar by 6-3, 6-2. Both the players matched fire with fire in the first set but Heera then utilized his wide experience and started playing aggressive game, which helped him win the set by 6-3. Heera continued to pressurize Ahmad Babar through his power hits and down the line game, as he took the set by 6-2 to register victory and also set final date against M Abid.

In the seniors 35 plus doubles first semifinal, Talha Waheed/Major Adnan fought well against Mehboob/Adeel and outlasted them by6-4, 6-4 while in the second semifinal, Fayyaz/Ashir, the title winners of last seniors 35 plus doubles event played at the same venue, overwhelmed the pair of Dr Saeed and Rana Nadeem with the score of 6-3, 6-3.

In under-18 semifinal, Abdullah Adnan beat Zain Ch, in under-16 semifinal, Iman Arif beat Eshtesham Arif 6-4, 6-3, in under-14 semifinal, Bilal Asim beat Ehtesham Arif 8-1, in u-12, Haider Ali Rizwan beat Aized Khalil 8-0, Asad beat Ali Zain 8-7, Asfandyar beat Sarim Rasul 8-3 and Husnain Ali Rizwan beat Abu Bakar Talha 8-5.

PLTA Secretary and former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik has said that the men’s singles final will start at 2:15 pm along with finals of other categories. Haroon Sheikh of Servaid will grace the concluding day as chief guest while PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik and Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, players, families and tennis enthusiasts will also present on the occasion.