KARACHI: Nauman Aftab cruised into the semi-finals in two age-group categories at the inaugural Beaconhouse Open National Seniors and Junior Tennis Championship here on Wednesday.

Nauman defeated Rayyan Jawwad 6-1, 6-2 in the Under-16 singles quarter-final encounter while he also made the last four in the Under-18 singles after his opponent Shiraaz Bhand of Hyderabad didn’t turn up for their encounter.

“We waited for Shiraaz for some time and I even called him but he didn’t take the call and so Nauman received a walkover against him,” Tournament Director Khalid Rehmani said.

In another U16 quarter-final, Mohammad Dada thrashed Oaunndin 6-0, 6-0. Oaunudddin received another thrashing in the U18 quarterfinals from Zubair Raja, who also registered a straight-sets 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Meanwhile, Nadir Mirza pulled a major upset in Under-10 singles event, beating top-seeded Zain Ehatasham 9-7 in their quarter-final. In other matches of the event, Danayal Paracha defeated Mohammad Rayyan Aman 8-3 while Mir Saqib overpowered Nael Mirza 9-7.

In the Under-14 singles quarter-finals, Mahatir Muhammad defeated Ghufran Fiaz 6-4, 6-3 and Asher Mir overpowered Hasnain 6-1, 6-1.

In the 45-Plus singles first round, Karim Gul Agha defeated Khurshid Ali 6-3, 6-0 while Mohammad Abdul Saeed registered an immaculate 6-0, 6-0 victory against Abdul Wahed of Bahawalpur.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2017