Aqeel, Abid enter Sheharyar Tennis semis

LAHORE: Aqeel Khan, M Abid, Muzammil Murtaza and Shahzad Khan qualified for the Sheharyar Malik National Grass Court Tennis Championship 2018 men’s singles semifinals after defeating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals played here at the PLTA tennis courts on Wednesday.

In the first quarterfinal of the men’s singles, Pakistan’s larger serving No 1 player Aqeel Khan edged out Mudassar Murtaza by 6-2, 6-2 while M Abid proved too hot for Saqib Umar by thrashing him 6-0, 6-0 in the second quarterfinal.

The third quarterfinal saw Muzzamil Murtaza struggling hard to defeat Heera Ashiq 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, while in the fourth and last quarterfinal, Shahzad Khan beat Abdaal Haider by 7-5, 7-5.

Sara Mehboob, Sara Mansoor and Mehwish Chishti won their respective quarterfinals to qualify for the ladies singles semifinals. Sarah Mehboob came from behind to beat Sara Muhammad by 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, Sara Mansoor outclassed Nida Akram by 6-0, 6-0 and Mehwish Chishti crushed Esha Batool 6-0, 6-0 to breeze into the semifinals.

In men’s doubles category, Talha Waheed and Fayyaz Khan routed Hamayun Rana and Hassan Saeed by 6-3, 6-0, Aqeel Khan and Shahzad Khan outlasted Barkat Ullah and Asad Ullah by 6-3, 6-2, Heera Ashiq and Abdul Rehman beat Ahmad Babar and Sid Siddqui by 6-3, 7-6 and Abid and Usman Rafiq outpaced Fayyaz and Talha by 6-2 and 6-1 to qualify for the semifinals of the event.