ISLAMABAD - Ushna Suhail and Sarah Mahboob advanced to the final of ladies singles of the Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament 2018 after defeating their opponents at PTF Complex on Friday.
National ladies champion Ushna Suhail defeated Sara Mansoor 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the first semifinal. In first set, Sara played aggressive tennis not allowing Ushna to settle to her normal level. However, the next set saw clear change of game plan as Ushna also used net game, cross court winners to win at 6-4. In final set, Ushna didn’t allow Sara to settle at any game, with convincing win at 6-0.
In the second semifinal, Sarah Mahboob overwhelmed Shimza Naz 6-0, 6-2. Sarah played impressive tennis in the first set and completely outclassed her opponent by 6-0. Although she faced some resistance in the second set yet she played with greater authority and won the set by 6-4. Sarah will now face Ushna’s challenge in the ladies singles final.
In boys singles Under-18 semifinals, M Shoaib played well against Musa Chaudhry and overwhelmed him by 6-1, 6-4, while Subhan Bin Salik didn’t allow Sami Zeb play freely and won the encounter by 6-2, 6-2. In the boys singles Under-14 semifinals, Uzair Khan had to struggle hard to beat spirited Kashan Umar 7-6(4), 6-4 and Sami Zeb proved too hot for Abdul Hanan as he thrashed his opponent by 6-0, 6-1.
Meanwhile, in the semifinals of Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan ITF Men’s Pro-Circuit Futures (F-2) Tennis Tournament 2018, top seed Cheong-Eui Kim of Korea overpowered third seed Sora Fukuda of Japan 6-0, 6-3 in men’s singles event. Kim played superb tennis in the first set and completely outclassed Sora Fukuda by 6-0. In the second set, he just conceded three points to win it by 6-3 and squeezed into the final.
In another semifinal of the event, fourth seed Kai Wehnelt of Germany stunned second seed Rio Noguchi Japan 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Noguchi won the first set 7-5, but after that he ran out of gas, as Wehnelt won the second set 6-3 and third also by 6-3 upset his superior opponent. With this victory, the German has now booked final date with top seed Kim.
In was another upset witnessed in the doubles category, as top seeds pair of Anton Chekhov/Kai Wehnelt were hammered by fourth seeds pair of Sora Fukuda/Rio Noguchi by 2-0. The fourth seed pair displayed outstanding tennis skills and techniques during semifinal and upset the top seeds pair by 6-3, 6-1.
Darko Jandric/Cheong-Eui Kim beat local hopes Muhammad Abid Ali Akbar/Shamael Chaudhry 2-0 in another semifinal of the doubles event. Jandric/Kim were off to flying start against local pair winning the first set 6-2 while they had to struggle hard to win the second set by 6-4.
