PESHAWAR, Dec 10: Pakistan No 1 and promising Davis Cupper, Aqeel Khan, booked a berth on Wednesday to the semifinals after defeating Muhammad Shafiq in the quarterfinals of the 24th Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Khyber Open Tennis Championship being held at PAF Officers Mess Courts here.

Aqeel faced stiff resistance from his rival in a gruelling match that lasted an hour and 12 minutes. Winning the first set 6-3 Aqeel came face to face with a tough challenge in the second when Shafiq managed to keep him at bay. He also made Aqeel play on the backfoot with some beautiful winners.

The two players were tied 6-6 in the crucial final set due to Shafiq’s erratic display. In the end Aqeel broke the tie 7-6 (6-all).

In a major upset, fourth seeded Inam Gul was defeated by Wasif Cheema to become the second semifinalist while Asim Shafiq and Pakistan national coach Rashid Malik also made it to the semifinals to be played on Thursday.

Asim Shafiq shocked Mehmood Khan by 6-3, 6-2 in the second quarterfinal and Rashid Malik secured victory against Munir Ashaq 6-2 and 7-5 (6-6) in an encounter that lasted 66 minutes.

Wasif Cheema presented a very thrilling match in which he upset promising PAF youngster Inam Gul in a marathon 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4.

Results of Under-18 Junior Category:

Tanveer Ashaq bt Abdul Sheikh 6-2, 6-2; Tanveer Munir bt Sheryar Niazi 6-0, 6-2; Ghulam Hussain bt Khurram Nazir 6-1, 6-1; Umar Babar bt Ahmed Aslam 6-2, 6-3; Sikandar Sohail bt Nouman Khan 6-3, 6-3; Hidayat Ullah bt Zain Abbas 6-0, 6-0; Hasan bt Ijaz Ahmed 6-2, 6-3 and Saad Mubarak bt Sajid Khan 6-3, 6-2.—APP