LAHORE-Top seeds Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza qualified for the semifinals of the 6th Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament 2020 after winning their respective quarterfinals played at PTF Complex, Islamabad on Friday.
In the men’s singles quarterfinals, Aqeel Khan was up against Ahmed Chaudhry and overpowered him by 6-4, 6-2. Muzammil Murtaza had to struggle hard to beat seasoned campaigner Heera Ashiq by 7-6(5), 7-5. Shahzad Khan played well against Mudassir Murtaza and outpaced him with a score of 6-3, 6-3 while in the fourth and last quarterfinal, Muhammad Abiq routed young and talented Muhammad Shoaib by 6-0, 6-4. In the men’s doubles, Abid/Waqas beat Yousaf/Heera 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Muzammil/Mudassir beat Abdal/Ahmed 2-6, 6-3, 10-7.
In the ladies singles quarterfinals, one upset was witnessed when Hania Navaid defeated Noor Malik (ZTBL) by 6-4, 6-3. In other quarterfinals, ladies champion Ushna Suhail thumped Mariam Mirza 6-2, 3-0(ret), Sarah Mahboob thrashed Sheeza Sajid 6-0, 6-0 and Esha Jawad overpowered Mahvish Chistie 6-1, 6-0.
In boys U-18, Aqib Hayat beat Hasheesh Kumar 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 and M Shoaib beat Mahatir Mohammad 6-3, 6-1. In boys U-14, Husnain Ali Rizwan beat Shahsawar Khan 4-5(8), 4-1, 4-0, Hamid Israr beat Hamza Aasim 4-0, 4-2, Haider Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Roman 2-4, 4-1, 4-2 and Bilal Asim beat Ahtesham Humayun 4-1, 4-0. In girls U-14, Sheeza Sajid beat Hareem Fatima 4-0, 4-0, Fatima Ali Raja beat Soha Ali 4-2, 4-0 and Natalia Zaman beat Sara Khan 4-0, 4-2.
In boys/girls U-12, Haniya Minhas faced tough resistance from talented Zohaib Afzal before winning the encounter 4-2, 4-0 while Hamza Roman beat M Haziq Aasim 4-0, 4-2 and Ahtesham Humayun beat Amir Mazari 5-4(3), 5-4(1) and Hamza Ali Rizwan beat Ali Zain 4-0, 4-0. In boys/girls U-10, promising Zohaib Afzal routed M Shayan 4-2, 4-2, M Hassan Usman beat Zohaib Amjad 4-0, 4-2 and Hamad Shah beat M Bilal Fahd 4-0, 4-0. In seniors 45 plus, Wakeel Khan/Amjad Nasir beat Altaf Hussain/Shahid 6-1, 6-4. The semifinals of all the categories will be decided today (Saturday).