June 27, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 30, 1427

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KARACHI, June 26: Pakistan No 1 in U-13, Zuhair Raza, is on course for a possible triple crown in the 16th Talent Hunt Sindh ranking tennis tournament at the end of penultimate day at CDGK sports complex on Monday.

Zuhair downed Ali Asghar Band-e-Ali 6-4, 6-2 to advance into the Juniors U-17 singles final for the first time where he meets his elder brother and top seed, Abbas Raza, who in the other pre-final accounted for Mustafa Jamal 6-2, 6-4.

Earlier, he cruised into the boys U-15 singles final by virtue of walkover against Abdul Rehman where he faces Mustafa Jamali who faced a tough resistance from Hyderabad’s Anas Yosuf Zai on his way to register 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 victory in the other semifinal.

The combination of Raza brothers- Zuhair and Abbas, have also qualified for the U-17 doubles final where they are pitted against the pair of Ali Asghar-Danial Alvi.

Unseeded Mahak Tanveer created quite a stir when she toppled second seed Samar Essa 6-2, 6-1 to propel into the girls U-17 singles final.

She now meets top seed Eman Malik who got the better of Sundas Tanveer 6-0, 6-1.

Mustafa Zaidi and Abdul Rehman qualified to meet each other in the boys U-13 singles final. The former defeated Zubaid Gul 6-0, 6-1 while the latter inflicted 6-1, 6-0 defeat on Nameer Shamsi in the two semis.

Defending champion and top seed Yasir Khan struggled to beat Rafi Derbari 7-5, 3-3 (retd) to enter men’s singles final where he will be up against Danish Ahmed who was home 4-6, 7-6 (8), 5-0 (retd) against Saad Baloch.

Results:

Boys U-9 (round robin) winner Hamza bin Asif 4points, runners up Talha Zuberi 2points

Boys U-11 (pro-set final): Khwaja Hamza bt Sheryar Ahmed 8-2

Men’s singles (quarterfinals): Yasir Khan bt Shabbir Gul (Hyd) 6-3 (retd); Rafi Derbari (Hyd) bt Mubashir Afridi 7-5, 7-5; Danish Ahmed bt S. M. Naeem 6-1, 5-0 (retd); Saad Baloch (Hyd) w/o Noaman Farid (Hyd) (Semifinals): Danish Ahmed bt Saad Baloch (Hyd) 4-6, 7-6 (8), 5-0 (retd); Yasir Khan bt Rafi Derbari (Hyd) 7-5, 3-3 (retd).

Juniors U-17 singles (semifinals): S. Abbas Raza bt Mustafa Jamal 6-2, 6-4; S. Zuhair Raza bt Ali Asghar Band-e-Ali 6-4, 6-2

Boys U-15 singles (semifinals): S. Zuhair Raza w/o Abdul Rehman

Boys U-13 singles (semifinals): Mustafa Zaidi bt Zubaid Gul (Hyd) 6-0, 6-1, Abdul Rehman bt Nameer Shamsi 6-1, 6-0

Girls U-17 singles (semifinals): Eman Malik bt Sundas Tanveer 6-0, 6-1, Mahak Tanveer bt Samar Essa 6-2, 6-1

Tuesday’s fixtures:

Boys U-17 singles final (8.00am); girls U-17 singles final, boys U-15 doubles final, boys U-17 doubles final (11.00am); boys U-13 singles final, boys U-15 singles final, women’s singles final (4.00pm); men’s singles final (5.00pm).