LAHORE - Aqeel Khan showed his supremacy in the men’s singles with a straight set victory in the ongoing 4th Hassan Tariq Rahim (HTR) Masters Cup (Invitational) Tennis Tournament here at Lahore Gymkhana Courts on Tuesday.
Apart from Aqeel, Muhammad Abid was another player who won his singles match but with great effort. On the day three, under-18, four women singles and three men’s doubles matches were played and all the seeded players were through to the next round.
Aqeel in his singles match pummeled Ahmed Chaudhary in straight sets. He won the opening set 6-3 and then with little extra effort took the second set 6-1. In the second singles match, Abid was stretched to full length by Shamael Chaudhary in the first set but when the second set started, the latter was injured and retired. Ultimately, Abid secured 7-6(9) tie breaker and 4-1 retired.
In women singles, Sara Mansoor, Mehwish Chishti, Sarah Mahboob Khan and national number one Ushna Suhail moved into the next round. All these four top seeded players didn’t face much trouble, winning over their respective rivals. Sara Mansoor overwhelmed Esha Jawad 6-1, 6-0, Mehwishj toppled Nida Akram 6-1, 6-0, Sarah Mahboob routed Noor Malik 6-1, 6-1 and Ushna Suhail trounced Khunsha Chaudhary 6-0, 6-2.
In under-18 boys, Muhammad Shoaib, Huzaiffa Abdul Rehman and Saqib Hayat emerged as winners. Shoaib proved too hot for Shehryar Tariq and thrashed him by 6-0, 6-0 while Huzaifa toppled Taimur Saleem 6-2, 6-0 and Saqib overpowered Aqib Hayat 6-0, 6-1.
The doubles winning pairs were Shahzad Khan/Ahmed Chaudhary, Muhammad Abid/Muhammad Waqas Malik and Muzamil Murtaza/Mudassar Murtaza. Shahzad Khan and Ahmed Chaudhary beat Yousaf Khalid and Muhamamd Shoaib 6-1, 6-2, Muhammad Abid and Muhammad Waqas Malik beat Abid Ali Akbar and Shamael Chaudhary in a very keenly-contested match that gripped the attention of all by 5-7 (3), 6-4, 10-6 while Muzamil Murtaza and Mudassar Murtaza beat Imran Bhatti and Tariq and Sadiq 6-1, 3-6 and 10-3.