May 9, 2005	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, May 8: Sara Mehboob, daughter of prominent coach Mehboob Khan, on Sunday earned the distinction of becoming the youngest ever winner of the ladies singles National clay court title. The 14-year-old Sara did remarkably well in all areas of the game to score an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory over Natasha Afridi at the Islamabad Club.

Sara’s exceptional play that featured a variety of fine strokes had Davis Cup great Hameed-ul-Haq impressed.

“She has all the ingredients of becoming a top player provided she gets the financial backing of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF).”

Hameed also praised Natasha and said she too was a future hope for Pakistan and that the PTF would do well to support her also.

But he pointed out that it was a pity that no official of the federation was present to watch them in action. The script in the men’s singles final went much the way it was expected with Aqeel Khan retaining his title without any difficulty against Asim Shafik, winning 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Asim had started off well early on that saw him lead 4-2 in the first set but could not keep that advantage and lost the first set in a tie break.

Aqeel dominated play in the second set in which Asim made several unforced errors and soon for him it was all over.

The men’s doubles title was shared by the teams of Aqeel-Rasheed Malik and Asim Shafik-Shahzad Khan after bad light stopped play with scores level at one-set all.

Results:

Ladies singles final: Sara Mehboob bt Natasha Afridi 6-2, 6-1

Men’s singles final: Aqeel Khan bt Asim Shafik 7-6 (2), 6-3

Men’s doubles final: Aqeel-Rasheed Malik and Asim Shafik-Shahzad Khan (bad light stopped play, one set all). Title shared.