LAHORE - Third seed Muzamil Murtaza toppled second seed M Abid while top seed Aqeel Khan outlasted Yousaf Khalil in the semifinals to march into the men’s singles final of the 3rd Shehryar Malik Memorial National Grass Court Tennis Championship 2019 here at PLTA courts on Friday.

Muzamil was up against second seed Abid and he displayed outstanding tennis skills and techniques to outsmart his superior opponent Abid by 6-3, 6-1. Muzamil was in sublime form as he not only serving very powerfully but also returning the big serves of Abid, which helped him overcome his fighting opponent to win the first set 6-3.

Abid was nowhere in the second set as Muzamil just conceded one point to take the set 6-1, thus drafted an easy victory over Abid and booked berth in the final against Aqeel, who overpowered Yousaf Khalil by 6-3, 6-3. The men’s singles final will be contested tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm.

In ladies singles semifinals, Sara Mansoor and Sarah Mehboob carved out comfortable triumphs over their respective opponents to book berths in the final. In the first semifinal, Sara Mansoor thrashed Mehak Khokhar by 6-1, 6-1.

Sara, who is one of the leading female players of the country, took very little time to outclass Mehek in the first set by 6-1 and overpowered her in the second set with same margin of 6-1 to set final date with Sarah Mehboob, who halted high-flying Noor Malik’s march to the final by winning the encounter with the scoreline 6-2, 6-1.

In U-18 semifinals, Ahmad Kamil and Abdullah Adnan carved out victories to make their way to the final. Ahmad beat Nauman Aftab 6-4, 6-3 while Abdullah Adnan outpaced Mahatir 6-1, 6-4. In U-12 quarterfinals, Hamza Roman thrashed Haider Ali Rizwan 4-1, 4-1, Asad toppled Hania Minhas 4-1, 5-3, Ahtesham Humayun outclassed Hamza Ali Rizwan 4-0, 4-1 while Husnain Ali Rizwan trounced Ali Jawad 4-1, 4-0.

In seniors 60 plus doubles, the pair of Maj Saeed and Inamul Haq outclassed Ashfaq Chohan/Faisal Sharif by 6-0, 6-0 while the pair of Brig Ghazanfar and Babar overwhelmed the pair of Gul Hamid and Mehboob Khan 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the next round.

Talking to media, PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik said the National Grass Court Tennis Championship has been the most prestigious event of tennis calendar since many decades and tennis community enjoys the interesting and thrilling matches throughout the event.

Showing affection and great affiliation with Rashid Malik family, the guests from other countries especially Haider Ismail and Malik Sajjad came from USA. They are also visiting regularly to see the players in action as well as sharing their potential role in the event’s organizational matters.

Malik greatly admired the efforts of Haider and Sajjad and hoped that they would continue their support for Pakistan tennis. Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Saleem Saif Ullah Khan will be chief guest at the final, who, along with PLTA’s office-bearers, will witness the finals tomorrow (Sunday) and distribute prizes among the winners.