ISLAMABAD: Sarah Mahboob Khan won the ladies singles final at the Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking tennis tournament at the Pakistan Tennis Federation Complex here on Friday.

She defeated country’s top player Sara Mansoor in straight sets.

The fourth seed Sarah Mahboob used aggressive hitting from the baseline to win the first set 6-1 in style.

In the second set, Sara Mansoor showed some resistance and broke the lead at 4-3, but Sarah Mahboob, who was in fine form, bounced back to tie the set at 4-all.

In the ninth game, she managed to beat Pakistan’s number one 6-4. In the boys U-18 final, Mohammad Muzamil overcame unseeded Raza Sawani despite the latter’s strong resistance.

In the first set, Raza managed to beat the top seed 6-3. However, in the second set, Muzamil made good comeback and through quality strokes outclassed Raza. He won that set 6-1.

In the third and final set, both the players reached four games all by holding their respective serves.

At 4-all, Muzammil broke his opponent’s serve to lead for the first time in the third set and then served it out to win it 6-4. While in the men’s doubles final, unseeded Abid Ali Akbar and his brother Babar Ali Akbar defeated top seeds Yasir Khan and Shahzad Khan.

The top duo played quality tennis but Abid was in fine touch, who played a major role in outplaying their opponents by hitting powerful strokes.

In the seniors final (45 years plus category), unseeded Rashid Malik/Hamid-ul-Haq were up against top seeds Irfanullah/Umer Ayaz.

But former Davis Cupper Hamid and his partner did not allow their opponents to settle in the match and comfortably won it 6-2, 6-2.

In the seniors (55 years plus) final, Inaamul Haq/Moosa Khan beat Asif Dar/Mahboob Khan 6-3, 6-3.

Inaam and Moosa enjoyed upper hand throughout the match. Men’s singles final will be played on Saturday between wild-card entrant Abid Ali Akbar and fourth seed Shahzad Khan.

In the U-14 final, Huzaifa Abdul Rehman will face Saqib Umar while Shoaib Khan will lock horns with Aqib Umar in the U-12 final.

Results (finals):

Ladies singles: Sarah Mahboob bt Sara Mansoor 6-1, 6-4.

Boys U-18: M. Muzamil bt M. Raza Sawani 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Men’s doubles: Abid Ali / Babar Ali bt Yasir Khan / Shahzad Khan 6-3, 6-3.

Senior 45 plus doubles: Hamid-ul-Haq / Rashid Malik bt Irfanullah / Umar Ayaz 6-2, 6-2.

Senior 55 plus doubles: Inam-ul-Haq / Musa Khan bt Mehboob Khan / Asif Dar 6-3, 6-3.

Published in Dawn January 10th , 2014

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