ISLAMABAD - Top seed Korean Cheong-Eui Kim moved into the semifinals of the Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan ITF Futures (F-2) Tennis Tournament 2018, as he beat Alexis Canter in straight sets in the quarterfinals played here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex on Thursday.
As many as eight matches were played on the fifth day of the tournament, while an exhibition doubles match was also played between Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi/Aqeel Khan and M Abid Ali Akbar/Shamel Chudhary, which added colour to the tournament.
Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) President Salim Saifullah Khan, senior management of the federation, media representatives and a large number of foreign and local players witnessed the matches.
In the men’s singles quarterfinals, Cheong-Eui Kim had to struggled hard to tame spirited Alexis Canter by 7-6(5), 6-2. The first set proved to be a highly-charged one as both leveled the score at 6-6 and then Kim played aggressive game to win the set 7-6(5). In the second set, Kim played really well and never allowed his opponent to win the set 6-2, thus moved to the semifinals of the event.
In other matches of the day, Sora Fukuda played well against Darko Jandric and won the match by 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 while Kai Wehnelt outclassed Lorenzo Bocchi by 6-1, 6-2 and Rio Noguchi outlasted Hamidreza Nadaf 6-3, 6-2.
In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Anton Chekhov/Kai Wehnelt beat Muhammad Abid/Muhammed Wagas Malik by 6-2, 6-4; Sora Fukuda/Rio Noguchi beat Dmitry Myagkov/Saida’lo Saidkarimov 6-3 6-4; Darko Jandric/Cheong-Eui Kim beat Ahmed Ch/Niklas Johansson 6-3, 6-2; Muhammad Abid Ali Akbar/Shamael Ch beat Joe Cooper/Matt Seeberger 6-2, 6-4.
In the ladies singles quarterfinals, Shimza Naz outsmarted Khunsha Baber by 6-3, 7-5. Shimza won the first set by 6-3 while she faced some resistance in the second set to win it 7-5. In other match of the day, Pakistan No 1 Sara Mansoor proved too hot for Hania Navid by overwhelming her by 6-2, 6-2. Pakistan’s ladies champion Ushna Suhail (ZTBL) overpowered by Meheq Khokhar by 6-2, 6-2. Ushna won the first set by 6-2 while she won the second set with same margin of 6-2 to advance to the next round. Former Pakistan No 1 Sarah Mahboob thrashed Sheeza Sajid 6-0, 6-0.
In boys’ singles U-18 quarterfinals, M Shoaib beat Osama Khan 6-1, 6-0; Musa Ch beat Hasam Khan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Sami Zeb beat Ahmed Asjad 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 and Subhan Bin Salik beat Rayan Jawad 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. In boys’ singles U-14 quarterfinals, Kashan Umar beat Hamza Roman by 6-4, 6-0; Uzair Khan beat Huzaima Abdul Rehman 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Sami Zeb beat M Huzaifa Khan 6-1, 6-0 and Abdul Hanan beat Talha Khan 6-0, 6-4.