KARACHI, July 16: Top seed Marium Rahim will take on second seed Nida Wasim in the ladies singles final of the Pakistan Open Tennis Championship, but not before she was forced into the third set by third seed Nousheen Ehtisham , on the Karachi Club hard courts on Friday.

A former ladies champion in years gone by, but still displaying immense talent, Nousheen led her opponent, 20 years her junior 4-1 in the opening set. But Marium came back strongly after equalising at 4-4, going on to win the set 6-4.

A bit disappointed by letting Marium off the hook, Nousheen fought back magnificently in the next set and forcing Marium to run all over the court picked up the second set 6-4 to draw abreast 1-1.

Although a tired young lady, Marium went on the attack in the deciding set. Nousheen beaming with confidence was caught on the wrong foot time and again and with Marium reeling off winners time and again breezed through the final set 6-1 to emerge a happy but very tired young lady.

On the next court second seed Nida Wasim had a much easier time against fourth seed Sana Bhagat emerging a 6-0, 6-2 winner to book her berth in the final. Nida who only a week ago won a ladies title at the Karachi Gymkhana dropping only one game, has so far dropped five games on her way to final in this tournament.

Nida Rahim took three games of Nida in the quarterfinals and Sana two in the semi-finals. Lahore's second seed Umer Baber won the boys singles under-17 title beating Quetta's Usman Ejaz 6-1, 6-3.

Giant-killer Usman who toppled top seed Ahmed Aslam in the quarters and then brushed aside third seed Tanvir Ashiq in the semis, was terribly off colour in the final round.

Many were of the firm belief that an interesting match was in store for the tennis fans, but it turned out to be so one sided as Usman bowed out 6-1, 6-3. Lahore's Khurram Nazir came storming in from behind to pick up the top honours in the boy under-15 event, beating Ali Asghar Bandeali in three hard fought out sets under floodlights.

Ali won the first set with ease 6-2, cashing in on several aces which caught his bemused opponent napping. Khurram however forged in front 4-1 in the second set, but Ali coming back strongly levelled the scores 5-5.

Leading 6-5 and with service in hand, Ali with two unforced errors allowed his opponent to catch up at 6-6 and in a nerve tingling tiebreaker Khurram came out on tops 7-5 which forced the match into the third set.

Gaining in confidence Khurram then produced several match winners that enabled him to take the final set and match 6-2. In the Boys under-13 final, second seed Ghulam Abbas Panju upset top seed Hera Ashiq from Lahore in an absorbing final which had the fans glued to their seats.

Hera playing attacking tennis took the first set 6-3. But Ghulam fighting back courageously evened the set scores 1-1, after grabbing the second 6-2. The lead changed hands several times in the final third set as both youngsters strived hard for victory.

Serving for the match leading 6-5 Ghulam made a hash of things which enabled Hera to level the scores 6-6. With both players fighting neck and neck in the tiebreaker, Ghulam finally forced his opponent to smash a lob into the net to throw up his hands in triumph, winning the tiebreaker 7-5.

Top seeds Aqeel Khan and Jalil Khan lifted the men's doubles title beating Wasif Cheema and Shahzad Khan 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1. Aqeel and Jalil with powerful forehand and backhand smashes won the first set 6-3, but were in for quite a surprise when Wasif and Shahzad won the next set 6-7 (7-5) on the tiebreaker.

But this great effort seemed to have taken its toll. Wasif and Shahzed were reduced to mere passengers in the final set going down 6-1. In the veteran doubles, Akber Hayat Khan and Zahid Hussain brushed aside the combination of Tariq Aziz and Ilyas 6-1, 6-1, while Humayun Zafar and Shahid Hussain posted a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Altaf Aziz and Khalid.

With time running out, the final of the boys doubles under-15 with Nasir Mushtaq and Ghulam Abbas Panju against Talha Dar and Khurram Nazir had to be postponed for Saturday at 10.00am.

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