KARACHI: Pakistan’s star player Nofil Kaleem won back to back semi-finals in U-18 and U-16 singles events to qualify for the finals of the 11th Pizza Hut Open National Tennis Championships at the Karachi Gymkhana on Saturday.
Nofil easily overpowered Kashan-ul-Haq 6-3, 7-6 in the U-18 semi-final but found a lot of resistance from Dawar Rehan and even dropped a set in the U-16 semi-final before registering a 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 triumph.
The U-16 final is expected to be a close battle as Nofil will meet Raza Sawani who trashed Eibad Sarwar Hussain, recording an immaculate 6-0, 6-0 victory.
In other matches, Ilham Khan defeated Bilal Imran 6-4, 7-5 while Nauman Aftab thrashed Amin Shafi 6-3, 7-5 to qualify for the final of U-14 singles event.
In the ladies event, Maheen Dada recorded a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Rida to qualify for the U-18 girls singles final.
She will now face Neha who trounced Wania Khan 6-3, 6-0 win.
Amin Shafi and Mohammad Dada set final date in the U-12 singles event after beating Farzan Ahmed and Mohammad Yahya 8-0 and 8-3 respectively in the semi-finals.
In the 35-plus singles quarter-finals, Asad Ali Bagat dropped a set against Zulfi before recording a 6-3, 2-6, 10-7 victory and secured a berth in the semi-finals.
Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2014
