October 28, 2002	Monday	Sha’aban 21,1423

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KARACHI, Oct 27: Top seed Aqeel Khan lifted the Men’s Singles trophy, after beating second seed Nomi Qamar in three sets in the final of the Sixth UBL Salma Noorani Ranking Tennis Championship played at the Karachi Club Sunday.

Two days ago, Nomi whilst engaged in his Men’s doubles semi-final was forced to retire, when trying to retrieve a high lob from his opponent, slipped on the court and crashed heavily against the steel gate.

Groaning with severe pain, Nomi unfit to carry on his match was taken to the hospital where he was advised to take complete rest for at least two days. Many were off the opinion that Nomi would not be able to play the final with an injured right shoulder. But the young man defying all odds, made his appearance on court for the final countdown.

He then sounded out a stern warning to Aqeel, winning a fiercely fought out first set 6-4, that his injured shoulder did not trouble him in the least as he powered his way with powerful forehand and double fisted backhand smashes.

Stung into action, Aqeel with an awesome power packed display of tennis, got his act together and whizzed through the second set 6-0 to level the scores.

Whispers were heard in the crowd. Perhaps Nomi’s injury was beginning to tell on him. But the second seed still had plenty of fight left in him.

Matching Aqeel point for point in the final set, the two were engaged in a see-saw tussle, with both these gifted players refusing to budge an inch. With the score tied 5-5 in the final set, Nomi finally began to falter, although he kept his partner on the alert.

Packing on the pressure, Aqeel picked up the next two points to win the set 7-5 and the match which lasted two hours and 15 minutes. Both players were cheered to the echo by the knowledgeable crowd when they left the court pouring in sweat.

The Juniors Singles however was a far cry from the Men’s event. The top seed Shehzad Khan in tremendous form crushed third seed Shahid Afridi 6-1, 6-1 in only an hour.

Earlier in the morning session, Hussain Khan and Jameel Khan bagged the Veteran’s Doubles event, getting the better of Ziahid Hussain and Akber Hayat Khan 6-4, 7-5 in a match which lasted two hours.

Apart from winning the Men’s Singles crown, Aqeel pairing up with the Davis Cup captain and former Pakistan No.1 Rashid Malik, won the Men’s Doubles by accounting for Asad Ali Bhagat and Hasan Mehmood the previous evening.

Also on Saturday, top seed Marium Rahim completed a hat trick of wins in the Salma Noorani Tennis Championship, by stopping second seed Nausheen Ehtesham 6-2, 6-4.

Tanvir Ashiq from Lahore bagged the Boys under-14 title, beating Aqeel’s younger brother Yasir 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

Following were the results:

Men’s Singles (Final)

Aqeel Khan beat Nomi Qamar 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

Juniors Singles Under-18 (Final)

Shahzad Khan beat Shahid Afridi 6-1, 6-1.

Veteran’s Doubles:

Hussain Khan & Jameel Khan beat Ziahid Hussain & Akber Hayat Khan 6-4, 7-5.