LAHORE, March 24: Top seed Aqeel Khan and Asim Shafik cruised into the final of the All-Pakistan Open tennis championship at the Bagh-i-Jinnah grass courts on Friday. Aqeel brushed aside Nomi Qamar 6-2, 6-3 and appeared to be in a hurry as he rounded off the match in just 30 minutes.
In the other pre-final, Asim did not show mercy to his Davis Cupper ally, Jalil Khan, by winning 6-1, 6-2 in 25 minutes with ease. Both the matches failed to produce quality tennis.
Zohair Raza and Mohammad Abid qualified for the Boys U-13 final. Zohair outplayed Danish Ilyas 6-4, 6-2 in the first semifinal while Abid faced some opposition from Faizan Khurram before winning 7-6 (5), 6-2. Sara Mehboob, Sabah Aziz and Natasha Afridi moved into the ladies singles semifinals.
Results: Men’s singles (semifinals): Aqeel Khan bt Nomi Qamar 6-2, 6-3; Asim Shafik bt Jalil Khan 6-1, 6-2. Boys U-13 (semifinals): Zohair Raza bt Danish Ilyas 6-4, 6-2; Mohammad Abid bt Faizan Khurram 7-6 (5), 6-2. Ladies’ singles (quarterfinals): Sara Mehboob bt Nazia Feroze 6-2, 6-1; Sabah Aziz bt Asia Malik 6-0, 6-1; Natasha Afridi bt Mehreen Izhar 6-1, 6-0.