KARACHI, Dec 14: Eighteen-year-old lefthander Adnan Khan was the toast of the Karachi Club, when he toppled sixth seed Inam Gul in the Salma Noorani Karachi Club tennis championship at the hard courts on Tuesday at the Karachi Club.
Having represented Pakistan in the Davis Cup only last year, Inam seemed to be in tremendous form as he forced his way into the last 16 the previous evening. But this time the youngster from Peshawar was facing a different kettle of fish.
An attacking player from the baseline Inam was matched stroke for stroke by the young lefthander, who excelled with powerful crosscourt smashes and fine volleys which helped him grab the first set 7-5.
The second set was indeed a repeat of the first with both players tied at 4-4 with Inam with service in hand. But much to the delight of the tennis fans watching this exciting encounter, Adnan broke Inam's service and serving for the match at 40-30, made no mistake as Inam was left helpless on the court when a swift backhand smash whistled past him.
Inam another promising youngster in the making, has now a difficult mountain to climb in the quarterfinals where he takes on the No.3 seed Asim Shafiq, who had little difficulty in disposing of his younger brother Munir Ashiq 6-2, 6-2.
Earlier in the morning session, Munir made his way into the last 16, by getting the better of Vinod Das 6-2, 6-3. In two other thrilling matches that went to the wire, Kamran Khalid finally overcame the stiff challenge put up by Omer Baber 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and Mohammad Shafiq got the better of Asfand Rauf 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Mehmood Khan who had to battle hard to win the first set 7-5 against Yasir, had a fairly easy time in the next, sweeping past his opponent 6-0 in the second set to make his passage through to the quarterfinal.
In the juniors, fourteen-year-old Nasir Mushtaq, another youngster worth watching for the future, extended seeded Khurram Nazir 7-5, 6-4, 7-5. Tanveer Ashiq, also made it through to the next round in the juniors edging out Danish Ahmed 6-1, 6-4. The same could be said about Yasir Khan a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Usman Ejaz.
Bespectacled Ghulam Abbas Panju the second seed in the Under-13, made heavy weather before finally elbowing out Zuhar Raza 6-3, 6-3. Leading 4-1 in the second set, Ghulam dropped his service twice before finally hitting the winning shot.
He was joined in the next round by Sunny Williams who after losing the first set 2-6 to Vicky Kumar, stormed back to take the other two 6-0, 6-0. Vicky's brother Vinod was also on the losing side, going down to Omer Shahid 6-0, 6-0, while the other Willams brother, Wilson also made his exit, swept aside by Mustafa Jamali 6-1, 6-0.
In the men's doubles event played later in the evening, Abdullah Sheikh and Tanvir Munir beat Ali Sheikh and Ali Asghar 6-4, 6-3. Brothers Tanvir and Munir beat Rizwan Hussain and Farhan Altaf 6-2, 6-3 and M. Baber and Khurram Nazir got the better of A. Rehman Pasha and Karim Gul Agha 6-2, 6-2. Following are the fixtures for Wednesday. Matches begin from 9-30 a.m.
MEN'S DOUBLES: Abdullah Sheikh/Tanvir Munir bt Ali Sheikh/Ali Asghar 6-4, 6-3; Tanvir Ashiq/Munir Ashiq bt Rizwan Hussain/Farhan Altaf 6-2, 6-3; M. Baber/Khurram Nazir bt A. Rehman Pasha/Karim Gul Agha 6-2, 6-2.
BOYS SINGLES UNDER-17: Tanvir Ashiq bt Danish Ahmed 6-1, 6-4; Khurram Nazir bt Nasir Mushtaq 6-4, 5-7, 5-7;Yasir Khan bt Usman Ejaz 6-2, 6-4.
BOYS SINGLES UNDER-13: Mustafa Jamali bt Wilson Williams 6-1, 6-0; Omer Shahid bt Vinod Kumar 6-0, 6-0; Sunny Williams bt Vicky Kumar 6-0, 6-0; Ghulam Abbas Panju be Zuhar Raza 6-3, 6-3.
