Mudassir, Ahmed extended in Davis Cup trials

ISLAMABAD: Mudassir Murtaza and Ahmed Chaudhary earned hard fought victories while M Shoaib and Shahzad Khan had easy sailing as four more matches were played in the Davis Cup trials at the Islamabad Tennis Complex here on Tuesday.

Mudassar went full distance against Yousaf Khalil before wrapping up the victory 6-2, 2-6 7-6 (8). Both Mudassir and Yousaf played strong baseline game as well near the net to give tough time to each other and were 1-1 to go in to the third set which proved a hard nut to crack.

However, Mudassar proved good both in technique and stamina to win the tie-breaker.

Ahmad Chaudhry came from behind to beat Muzamil Murtaza 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3. After losing the nail-biting first set, Ahmed powered his way into the match, giving no room to Muzammil and winning back-to-back sets quite easily to complete a fine victory.

Shoaib outplayed Barkatullah 6-2, 7-5, while Shehzad received little opposition from Heera Ashiq 6-2, 6-3 to come out victorious.

On Wednesday, Heera will take on Mudassir while Ahmad play M Shoaib. Shehzad will lock horn against Muzamil while Barkatullah will fight Yousaf.—Sports Reporter

Karachi Bulls basketball reaches semis stage

KARACHI: Omega Club, Blizz Club, Mamba Squad, One Unit Club reached the semi-finals of the Karachi Bulls Invitational Basketball Tournament here at the Nishtar Park on Tuesday.

In the first quarter-final played on Monday, Omega Club beat Karachi Bulls 47-24 with Ali Murtaza (19 pts), Shayan Qadri (8pts) being the leading scorers for the winners. For the losing side, Uneeb Zia (7 pts), Safeer Hussain (6 pts) played well.

In the second quarter-final, Mamba Squad beat Mastaan Club got a walkover while in the third quarter-final, Blizz Club beat YMCA 39-37. Sheryar (11 pts) and Ibrahim (10 pts) top scored for the winners while Salman Malik (23 pts) and Javed Khan (7 pts) stood out for the losing side.

In the fourth quarter-final, One Unit Club beat Nishtar Club 35-30. Talal (14 pts), Fahad (10 pts) and Nehal (7 pts) were the main scorers for the winners while for the losing side, Furqan Patel (14 pts) and AsadAli (5 pts) played well. The final of the tournament will be played on Saturday, Jan 23 at the Nishtar Park basketball courts.—Agencies

Umair bowls Khizra Club to victory

LAHORE: Four wickets by captain Umair Abbas helped Khizra Club to move into the second round of the Tauseef Trophy Cricket Championships after beating Dar Club by 15 runs in a thrilling match at the LCCA ground here on Tuesday.

Set to score 229 for victory, Dar Club were all out for 213 in 38.2 overs, despite some good batting from Ahsan Ali (59), M Rizwan (51) and Attayab Ahmad (44) as Umair Abbas took four wickets for 41 runs.

Earlier for Dar Club, M Sadiq took three wickets for 40 runs to restrict Khizra Club to a total of 228 for nine in 40 overs.

Umair was also declared as Man of the Match.

Summarised scores:

Khirza Club 228-9 in 40 overs (Tahir Beg 42, Adnan Rasool 37, Zain Bin Farooq 35, Umair Abbas 27 not out, Hasnat Abbas 22; M Sadiq 3-40, Hassan Dar 3-51).

Dar Club 213 all out in 38.2 overs (Attayab Ahmed 44, Ahsan Ali 59, M Rizwan 51; Umair Abbas 4-41, Nabeel Arshad 2-29, Hasnat Abbas 2/37, Adan Mir 1-34, Yaseen Khan 1-45.—Sports Reporter

Seventeen matches decided

LAHORE: Seventeen matches were decided in the Millat Tractors National Senior and Junior Tennis Championship here on Tuesday.

Eleven matches were played in the men’s category and six in the boys U-18 section.

Results:

Men’s singles (second round): Musa Haroon bt Hammad 8-3; Ahtesham Arif bt Husnain Ali 8-2; Imran Bhatti bt Mujtaba Shahbaz 8-3; Osama Khan bt Aakif Hussain 8-2; Zaryab Pirzada bt Shaeel Durab 9-7; Mian Bilal bt Abdullah Anjum 8-0; A Ghafoor bt Hassan Ali 8-5; Farman Shakeel bt Ahmed Javeed 8-0; Hassan Riaz bt Rana Humayum 8-3; Bilal Farooq bt Muaz Pirzada 8-5; Hamza Jawad bt Aqeel Sarfaraz 8-4.

Boys U-18: Faizan Fayyaz bt Haider Ali Rizwan 6-2, 6-3; Nalain Abbas bt Haroon Arshad 6-1,6-0; Shaeel Durab bt Arman Kamran 6-2, 6-2; Mahatir Mohammad bt Ahtesham Humayun 6-0, 6-3; Asad Zaman bt Hassam Ali 6-2, 6-2; Hasheesh Kumar bt Bilal Farooq 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.—Sports Reporter

Clubs registration begins

KARACHI: The Karachi Basketball Association (KBBA) has asked all the affiliated clubs in the city to ensure annual registration by Jan 30 otherwise they will not be allowed to compete in the upcoming Kashmir Cup.

All clubs can obtain registration forms from KBBA Secretary Tariq Hussain on Wednesday (today).

Meanwhile, an important meeting of the KBBA officials have been called on Friday, Jan 22 where key decisions will be taken with regards to events in 2021.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021