May 05, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1428

LAHORE, May 4: All top four seeded players cruised into the semi-finals of the Pakistan Open tennis for Nazim Cup at Royal Palm Club here on Friday.

Top seed Aqeel Khan, as was expected, continued his easy sailing to make to the last four defeating Inam Gul easily with the final score 6-0, 6-4. It seemed Aqeel was in a hurry in the first set grabbing it without dropping a single game. In the second set, Inam gave resistance and played some good tennis but his efforts were not enough to catch a formidable seasoned campaigner, losing the set 6-4 and the match, too.

Fourth seed Nomi Qamar, passed some tense moments before disposing off the challenge of upcoming Tanveer Ashiq with the score 7-6 (2), 6-3.

The first set went into the tie-breaker as Tanveer made some trouble for the seasoned rival.

At some occasion, Tanveer was in a position to win the first set, but he made unforced errors and paid the penalty. Nomi made short work in the second set as Tanveer looked tired after a laborious first set.

Second seed Asim Shafik, and third seed Jalil Khan registered easy wins.

Asim trounced Mehmood Khan 6-3, 6-1, while Jalil ousted Shafiq 6-3, 6-2.

Aqeel will face his younger brother Jalil in the first semi-final and Asim meets Nomi Qamar on Saturday.

In men's doubles, pair of Rashid Malik-Aqeel Khan and Asim Shafik-Jalil Khan advanced into the final. Rashid-Aqeel beat Nomi Qamar-M. Shafiq after a well-contested match 7-6,6-4. In the other semi-final Asim Shafik-Jalil Khan eliminated Mehmood Khan-Inam Gul 6-0,6-3.

In the boys U-17, Omer Babar and Zohair Raza marched into the final. Omer beat S. Abass Raza 7-5, 6-0 while Zohair outplayed Mohammad Abid 6-1, 6-0.

The ladies singles' event also entered the semi-final stage when top seed Sarah Mahboob beat Meheq Khokhar 6-1,6-2 in the first quarter-final and Ushna Sohair beat Qurat-ul-Ain in one of the best matches of the tournament. Ushna went into three set to carve out win 6-4,3-6,6-3.

Results:

Men's singles (quarter-final):

Aqeel Khan bt Inam Gul 6-0,6-4; Jalil Khan bt M. Shafiq 6-3,6-2; Nomi Qamar bt Tanveer Ashiq 7-6(2),6-3; Asim Shafik bt Mehmood Khan 6-3,6-1.

Men's doubles (semi-finals):

Asim Shafik-Jalil Khan bt Mehmood Khan-Inam Gul 6-0,6-3; Aqeel Khan-Rashid Malik bt Nomi Qamar-M. Shafiq 7-6(2),6-4.

Boys Under-17 singles (semi-finals).

Omer Babar bt S. Abbas Raza 7-5,6-0; S. Zohair Raza bt M. Abid 6-1,6-0.