KARACHI: Young Malik Hamza pulled off a major upset here on Friday when he eliminated favourite Nofil Kaleem in the U-18 singles quarterfinals of Indus Phar­ma National Seniors and Juniors Tennis Championship at the Karachi Club.

Islamabad-based Nofil Kaleem is the top ranked player in the national circuit but he failed to justify his top ratings after he conceded straight set 6-4, 6-0 defeat to Hamza.

Meanwhile, Dawar Rehan also advanced into the semifinals of the event after he defeated Ilham Khan by 6-2, 6-2 score.

In the U-16 singles quarterfinals, Mohammad Raza Sawani overpowered Marib Malik recording a convincing 6- 1, 6-3 triumph. Wania thrashed Areeba 8-0 while Anusha Saleh got a walkover against Rida Khan in the girls U-18 quarterfinals.

Results:

U-18 singles (quarterfinals): Malik Hamza bt Nofil Kaleem 6-4, 6-0; Dawar Rehan bt Ilham Khan 6-2, 6-2; U-16 singles quarterfinals: Mohammad Raza Sawani bt Marib Malik 6-1, 6-3 U-14 singles second round: Nouman Aftab bt Ebad Ahmed 6-2, 6-1 Rayyan Jawwad bt Ibrahim Khan 6-1, 6-3 Amin Shafi bt Abdullah Khan 6-1, 6-3 Nabeel w/o Zubair Raja Bilal Imran bt Farzan Azhar 6-1, 6-1 Shahzil Malik w/o Mujahiddullah U-12 singles second round: Amin Shafi bt Usman Imran 8-0 Ibrahim Khan bt Ali Dada 8-0.

Mens singles quarterfinals: Imran Shaukat bt Ali Mansoor 6-2, 6-0 Mohammad Manzar bt Abdul Saeed 6-2, 6-2 Talha Zubair bt Saif Noor 6-1, 6-1 Girls U-18 quarterfinals: Wania bt Areeba 8-0 Anusha Saleh w/o Rida Khan.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2014