April 18, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1429

KARACHI, April 17: Islamabad’s Asim Shafik, the third seed, set a date with top seed Aqeel Khan for the men’s singles crown after the two romped home over their opponents in convincing fashion in the pre-finals of the Pakistan Open tennis championship at Karachi Club on Thursday.

The Pakistan No 1, Aqeel, who is also defending champion, stamped his authority when he eased to 6-3, 6-1 victory over fourth seed Nomi Qamar.

Making his appearance after a two-month layoff, Nomi, a former member of Pakistan Davis Cup team, had given Aqeel a tough time before going down in the fully extended three-hour duel in the men’s singles final of Pakistan Open for the Nazim Cup in Lahore last year.

However, he failed to display the same agility against his seasoned opponent who has just return from Tehran after playing Asia Oceania zone group III Davis Cup matches.

Another member of the Pakistan Davis Cup team, Asim Shafik, who is also in the top form, bulldozed second seed and last year’s losing finalist, Jalil Khan 6-2, 6-2 in the other encounter.

Contrary to the men’s matches, the ladies singles pre-finals turned out to be thrilling as both went to full distance.

Lahore’s Saba Aziz who is seeded third in the event, produced an awesome performance to topple last year’s losing finalist and second seed, Sara Mansoor 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

He qualified to meet the top seed Sara Mehboob who too, struggled to overcome Ushna Suhail 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Promising youngster of the city, Abdul Rehman, is on course for a double crown. In the juniors U-17 semi-final, he edged his namesake from Multan 6-2, 6-4 to meet another talented player Zuhair Raza who got the better of Mustafa Zaidi 6-4, 6-2.

Similarly, in boys U-15 seventh seed Rehman handed out a 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 defeat to second seed Nameer Shamsi. He meets third seed Mustafa Zaidi who accounted for top seed Adil Khohari 6-0, 6-3.

The championship concludes on Friday with all the finals on card.

Results:

Men’s singles semi-finals:

Aqeel Khan (Karachi) bt Nomi Qamar (Karachi) 6-3, 6-1; Asim Shafik (Islamabad) bt Jalil Khan (Karachi) 6-2, 6-2.

Ladies singles semi-finals:

Saba Aziz (Lahore) bt Sara Mansoor (Islamabad) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; Sara Mehboob (Islamabad) bt Ushna Suhail (Lahore) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Juniors U-17 singles semi-finals:

Syed Zuhair Raza (Karachi) bt Mustafa Zaidi (Karachi) 6-4, 6-2; Abdul Rehman (Karachi) bt Abdul Rehman (Multan) 6-2, 6-4.

Boys U-15 singles semi-finals:

Abdul Rehman (Karachi) bt Nameer Shamsi (Karachi) 7-6, 6-7, 6-1; Mustafa Zaidi (Karachi) bt Adil Kohari (Karachi) 6-0, 6-3.

Seniors doubles quarter-finals:

Zahid Hussain/Shahid Hussain bt Ashraf Adnan/Ismail Sharif 6-1, 6-1; Akbar H. Khan/Karim Gul Agha bt Tariq Khan/Ilyas Lashkarwala 7-5, 6-3; Azharuddin/Javed Ahmed bt Altaf Aziz/Khalid Hussain 6-2, 6-3.

Tariq Aziz/Tahir bt Arif Lakhani/Haji Iqbal 6-3, 6-4.

Friday’s fixtures:

Men’s doubles final 12.00noon; juniors U-17 singles final 12.30pm; boys U-13 singles semi-final 1.30pm; boys U-15 singles final, ladies singles final 3.00pm; boys U-13 singles final, men’s singles final 3.30pm.