October 17, 2003	Friday	Sha'aban 20, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: Top seed Aqeel Khan and No 2 Asim Shafik scored straightforward quarterfinal victories on Thursday to check into the prefinals of the 20th Federal Cup Tennis Championship at the Islamabad Club courts.

The young Aqeel was never going to face any problems against the aging Hameed and eliminated the former Davis Cupper with a 6-1, 6-2 victory by playing a powerful game.

Hameed who scored the biggest upset of the tournament on Wednesday by knocking out fifth seed Shahzad Khan in the pre quarterfinal that lasted two hours and 40 minutes, proved no match for Aqeel.

Asim also had an easy day showing Jalil Khan the door, achieving a 6-3, 6-1 win against the new Davis Cup player who is the younger brother of Aqeel.

Also making the last four were third seed Nomi Qamar who swept past Mahmood Khan 6-3, 6-1 and Rashid Malik coach of the Pakistan Davis Cup team, a 6-3, 6-2 victor against Umair Qayyum.

Rashid hit several winners from the baseline and never allowed his rival to settle down throughout the match with his fine cross court and passing shots.

The victory put him in a semifinal clash with Aqeel while Nomi will be up against Asim.

On the women’s side, top seed Mariam Rahim and Mehvish Chishtie advanced to the singles semifinals, both scoring straight set victories.

Mariam blanked Zara Omer 6-0, 6-0 while Mehvish routed Maira Rahim 6-0, 6-1.

Shiza Ehtisham also went through overcoming the challenge of Sana Bhagat 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 with Nosheen Ihtisham ousting Saba Aziz 6-2, 6-2.

In the semifinals Shiza will play Nosheen with Mehvish taking on Mariam.

Results:

Men’s singles quarterfinals: Aqeel Khan bt Hameedul Haq 6-1, 6-2, Rashid Malik bt Umair Qayyum 6-3, 6-2, Nomi Qamar bt Mahmood Khan 6-3, 6-1, Asim Shafik bt Jalil Khan 6-3, 6-1.

Women’s singles quarterfinals: Mariam Rahim bt Zara Omer 6-0, 6-0, Mehvish Chishtie bt Maira Rahim 6-0, 6-1, Shiza Ihtisham bt Sana Bhagat 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, Nosheen Ihtisham bt Saba Aziz 6-2, 6- 2.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals: Aqeel Khan-Rashid Malik bt Ikramul Haq-Kamran Khalil 6-2, 6-2, Inam Gul-Jalil Khan bt Shahid Afridi-Ghulam Rasool 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, Hameedul Haq-Asim Shafik bt Pervaiz Khan-Azeem Khan 6-1, 6-1, Nomi Qamar-Mahmood Khan bt Saeedul Haq-Nauman Durrani 6-2, 6-2.

Boys under-18 singles quarterfinals: Shahzad Khan bt Aftab Anwar 6-2, 6-1, Adnan Khan bt Tanvir Munir 6-4, 6-2, Wasif Cheema bt Shahrukh Niazi 6-4, 6-0, Tanvir Ashiq bt Yasir Khan 6-4, 6- 7(8), 7-6(8).

Boys under-14 singles quarterfinals: Omer babar bt Tanish Raza 4-2, 4-0, M. Usman Ijaz bt Khurrum Nazir 4-2, 4-0, Ahmed Aslam bt Jawad Gardezi 4-0, 4-2, Yasir Khan bt Tanvir Munir 5- 4(2), 2-4, 4-1

Girls under-14 singles quarterfinals: Mehak Khokhar bt Mariam Ghaznavi 4-0, 4-1, Zainab Khan bt Natasha Afridi 5-4(2), 4-0

Boys under-12 singles semifinals: M. Waqas Malik bt Usman Sikander 4-0, 4-1, Ghulam Abbas bt Sadanul Haq 4-1, 4-0.

Boys under-12 singles final: Ghulam Abbas bt M. Waqas Malik 5-3, 5-3

Veterans 50 & above doubles: Sher Khan-Khawar Hayat bt Saleem Gul-Haroon 6-3, 6-3, Maj. Pervaiz-Naeem Pasha bt Brig Durrani- Sohail Kiani 6-4, 6-4, Col Tahawwar Ali-Rashid Kahn bt Maj. Yahya-Akbar 6-2, 6-3, Ali Akbar-Col Shahid bt Altaf Kazmi-Air Cdr Lodhi 6-1, 6-1.