ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Mohammad Shoaib outplayed Tuna Nergizoglue of Turkey in straight sets in the quarter-final of the Dilawar Abbas Memorial ITF Pakistan Junior Tennis Championship here at the PTF Complex on Wednesday.

Top seed Shoaib, the winner of the recently concluded first leg of the championship, was in excellent form, as he outclassed his opponent 6-2, 6-1 in their boys’ singles quarter-finals.

He won the first set by breaking first and third game of Tuna and kept the pressure in the second set not allowing Nergizoglue to settle with his powerful winners down the line and cross court shots. The Pakistani comfortably won the set by breaking the first, third and fifth games.

Unseeded Kerem Ozlale of Turkey maintained his winning streak easily winning his quarter-final against compatriot Birtan Duran 6-0, 6-2.

In the third quarter-final second seed Gokalp Ayar of Turkey beat Romania’s Iustin Belea 6-4, 6-3. Ayar faces Ozlale in the semi-final.

Aryan Giri of Nepal proved too good for Greece’s Stylianos Poutis in their quarter-final as the former bagged the match 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last-four stage.

In the girls singles semi-final, unseeded Lyela Nilufer Elmas of Turkey made a major upset when she beat second seed Dorsa Cheraghi of Iran.

Leyla won the first set 6-4 by breaking the 10th game of Dorsa in which she committed one double fault and lost the game 0-40. A close fight was seen in the second set as the score went up to 6-6 as both the players hold their respective serve and match decided on tie break which won by Lyela 7-1.

In the other girls singles semi-final, top seed Ren Ke of China overpowered unseeded Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Bakytzhan 7-5, 6-0.

The unseeded pair of Nepal’s Babhilasha Bista and Neyara Weerawansa od Sri Lanka stunned top seed duo of Iran’s Dorsa Cheraghi and Billur Gonlusen of Turkey 5-7, 7-6(5) 12-10 in the girls doubles semi-final.

In the second girls doubles semi-final, Turkish pair of Lyela Nilufer Elmas and Mina Toglukdemir overcame Malaysia’s Sei-Ding Chai and Ren Ke of China 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7.

Turkish duo of Gokalp Ayar and Mustafa Sancakliogu shocked top seed Pakistani pair of Mohammad Shoaib and Ahmed Kamil 1-6, 6-1, 10-7 in the boys’ doubles semi-final.

In the other semi-final, second seed Iustin Belea of Romania and Australia’s Qwyn Quittner struggled to beat Agha Raahim (Great Britain) and Stulianos Poutis (Greece) 1-6, 6-4, 10-6.

Results:

Boys singles (quarter-finals): Mohammad Shoaib (Pakistan) bt Tuna Nergizoglu (Turkey) 6-2, 6-1; Gokalp Ayar (Turkey) bt Iustin Belea (Romania) 6-4, 6-3; Aryan Giri (Nepal) bt Stylianos Poutis (Greece) 6-2, 6-4; Kerem Ozlale (Turkey) bt Birtan Duran (Turkey) 6-0, 6-2

Girls singles (semi-finals): Ren Ke (China) bt Zhansaya Bakytzhan (Kazakhstan) 7-5, 6-0; Leyla Nilufer Elmas (Turkey) bt Dorsa Cheraghi (Iran) 6-4, 7-6(1)

Boys doubles (semi-finals): Gokalp Ayar (Turkey)/Mustafa Sancaklioglu (Turkey) bt Ahmed Kamil (Pakistan)/Mohammad Shoaib (Pakistan) 1-6, 6-1, 10-7; Iustin Belea (Romania)/Qwyn Quittner (Australia) bt Raahim Agha (Great Britain)/Stylianos Poutis (Greece) 1-6, 6-4, 10-6

Girls doubles (semi-finals): Abhilasha Bista (Nepal)/Neyara Weerawansa (Sri Lanka) bt Dorsa Cheraghi (Iran)/Billur Gonlusen (Turkey) 5-7, 7-6(5) 12-10; Leyla Nilufer Elmas (Turkey)/Mina Toglukdemir (Turkey) bt Sei-Ding Chai (Malaysia)/Ren Ke (China) 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2020