December 23, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 01, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 22: Sara Mehboob, Natasha Afridi, Sara Mansoor and Nausheen Ihtesham made to the last four in the IC Open national ranking tennis ladies' singles championship at the Bagh-i-Jinnah on Friday.

Sara had a cakewalk against Mehak Khokhar winning in a straight set 6-2, 6-1 as she spent only 27 minutes on the court to get a place in last four.

Natasha also registered an easy win against Saba Aziz 6-0, 6-3.

The colourless ladies' quarter-finals also saw two walkovers. Sara Mansoor got walk over against Sana Khan while Nausheen against Sahil.

In semi-finals, Nausheen takes on Natasha while Sarah Mahboob will meet Sara Mansoor.

In the men's singles semi-finals, top seed Aqeel Khan will face Shahzad Khan while Asim Shafiq faces Jalil Khan.

The boys' singles U-17 and U-15 also entered the semi-final stage.

In U-17, Abid Ali fought his way to book a place in semi-final, defeating Khurram Nazir 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7). Abid won the first set easily but Khurram fought back in the match in great style winning the second set after dropping just one game to come on even keel. A fight for each point was seen in the crucial third set which was decided in a tie-breaker, before Abid notched up win.

Three other pre-finals were decided in straight set.

Omer Babar carved out win against Waqas Malik 6-2, 6-0, Tanveer Ashiq proved too good for Fahad Ali 6-4, 6-3. In a clash between two upcoming, Ahmed Aslam ousted Pakistan junior champion Yasir Khan 6-3, 7-5.

In U-13, Adil Kohari was stretched to full distance by Ahmed Babar to win with the score line 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Zuhair Raza blasted Abdul Rehman 6-0, 6-3 while Mohammad Abid earned 6-1, 6-0 win against Hamza Pataudi. Faizan Khurram got walk over against Arslan.

Results:

Ladies' singles (quarter-finals):

Sara Mehboob bt Mehak Khokhar 6-2, 6-1; Natasha Afridi bt Saba Aziz 6-0, 6-3; Sara Mansoor w/o Sana Khan Nausheen Ihtesham w/o Sahil.

Boys' U-17 (quarter-finals): Omer Babar bt Waqas Malik6-2, 6-0; Abid Ali bt Khurram Nazir 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7); Tanveer Ashiq bt Fahad Ali 6-4, 6-3; Ahmed Aslam bt Yasir Khan 6-3, 7-5.

Boys U-13 (quarter-finals):

Zuhair Raza bt Abdul Rehman 6-0, 6-3; Adil Kohari bt Ahmed Babar 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5); M Abid bt Hamza Pataudi 6-1, 6-0; Faizan Khurram got walkover against Arsalan.

Boys U-15 (2nd round):

Heera Ashiq bt Hamza Aftab 6-1, 6-2; Mohammad Abid bt Saad Mubarik 6-4, 3-6, 6-2; Zuhair Raza bt Danish Ilyas 6-0, 6-1.

Men's doubles: Inam Gul-Mahmood Khan bt Irfanullah-Shahzad 6-2, 7-5; Rashid Malik-Nasir Shirazi bt Nazir Mushtaq-Shan Bukhari 6-1, 6-2; Asim Shafik-Shahzad Khan bt Tanveer Ashiq-Yasir Khan 6-1, 6-1.