LAHORE - Pakistan tennis stars Ushna Suhail and Aqeel Khan struck excellent performances to win the ladies and men’s singles titles of the 4th Hassan Tariq Raheem (HTR) Master Tennis Cup here at Lahore Gymkhana courts on Sunday.

In the ladies final, Ushna Suhail overwhelmed Sarah Mahboob in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. Ushna kept Sara at bay in the opening set, did not allowing her even a single point to have a 6-0 win. In the second set, Sara showed some deliverance but only for two points with a reason being that Ushna was in thorough control of the match. Ultimately, Ushna saw Sara sink to 6-0 and 6-2 difference. Ushna, who is a final year student of BBA Hons in University of London, said after the match that she was quite satisfied with her performance as her academics keep her fully preoccupied and tennis is left with lesser time to spare these days.

Having already won the doubles title while pairing with Pakistan’s star player Aisamul Haq Qureshi, Aqeel had a tough time in the final against Muhammad Abid. Aqeel did have some hurdles in the way to the final but experience prevailed over the lowly ranked players, who showed the number one that he had to earn win. Aqeel got to a flying start in the match which in turn got to be a pulsating encounter.

Aqeel would have thought after winning the opening set 6-1 that his return home would be early. But Abid tested Aqeel’s nerves in the second set. It was Aqeel’s experience of playing long duration matches that kept Abid struggling. Abid’s fight extended the second set to a tie break but Aqeel came back strongly to every serve Abid served and won the set 6-7 (5) and while in the final set, Aqeel evaporated all the guts from Abid’s aggression and fight to win the set 6-3 and the match.

In the under-18 boy’s final, Huzaifa Abdul Rehman won the title after defeating Muhammad Shoaib by 6-1, 3-6 and 7-6. Huzaifa started the match on a positive note but Shoaib bounced back incredibly. Then both the players fought all ends to settle the final in the third set but Huzaifa turned out to be the better bet to claim the 6-1, 3-6 and 7-6 win.

Lahore Gymkhana chairman Kamran Lashari was the chief guest at concluding ceremony and distributed prizes among the winners and other participants while Khawaja Ahmed Tariq Raheem was also present among the guests.