ISLAMABAD - The three remaining Pakistanis also crashed out of the $15,000 Benazir Bhutto (BB) Shaheed International Tennis Tournament 2017 after they were beaten by their respective opponents in the second round of the event played here at Islamabad Tennis Complex on Wednesday.
No local player could show resistance against international players except M Abid Ali Akbar, who went down fighting against Kunal Anand of India 7-5, 7-5. Earlier in the first round, Akbar remained lucky to play against local player Heera Ashiq, to whom he outclassed in straight sets, but when it came to play against international player, he couldn’t perform well and lost the crucial match at the hands of Indian player.
Top seed Russia’s Ivan Nedelko proved too hot for Pakistani player Yasir Khan and thrashed him in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 to book berth in the last eight. Second seed Enrique Lopez-Perez of Spain also played flawless tennis and overwhelmed Pakistan’s Ahmed Choudhary 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.
The only upset of the day was witnessed when Ergi Kirkin of Turkey stunned third seed Kristian Lozan of Russia by 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Turkish though lost the first set 3-6 and was down 0-3 in the second set, but he made a strong comeback to first level the score at 3-3 and then took the set 6-3 while he won the third set more comfortably by 6-2 to enter the last eight.
Fourth seed Shalva Dzhanashiya of Russia eased past counterpart Oleg Besednikov 6-3, 6-2, fifth seed Julian Onken of Germany outlasted France’s Luka Pavlovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, sixth seed Peter Goldsteiner of Austria outsmarted Russia’s Ivan Ponomarenko 6-2, 6-3 and Russia’s Anton Chekhov thumped India’s Anurag Nenwani 7-5, 6-2 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the international tennis event.
MEN’S SINGLE SECOND ROUND RESULTS: Kunal Anand (IND) beat M Abid Ali Khan Akbar (PAK) 7-5, 7-5, Ivan Nedelko (RUS) [1] beat Yasir Khan (PAK) 6-1, 6-0, Enrique Lopez-Perez (ESP) [2] Ahmed Choudhary (PAK) 6-1, 6-2, Ergi KIRKIN (TUR) beat Kristian LOZAN (RUS) [3] 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, Shalva DZHANASHIYA (RUS) [4] beat Oleg BESEDNIKOV (RUS) 6-3, 6-2, Julian ONKEN (GER) [5] beat Luka PAVLOVIC (FRA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, Peter GOLDSTEINER (AUT) [6] beat Ivan PONOMARENKO (RUS) 6-2, 6-3, Anton CHEKHOV (RUS) beat Anurag NENWANI (IND) 7-5, 6-2.