Abid, Kamil, Imran, Heera in Punjab Open semis

LAHORE: Muhammad Abid, Ahmad Kamil, Imran Bhatti and Heera Ashiq qualified for the men’s singles semifinals at the Gobi’s Paints Punjab Open Tennis Championship 2021 after winning their respective quarterfinals here at PLTA Courts on Thursday. Muhammad Abid outclassed Shaeel Durab 6-1, 6-2, Ahmed Kamil routed Faizan Fayyaz 6-3, 6-2. Imran Bhatti outplayed Bilal Asim 6-2, 6-2 and seasoned campaigner Heera Ashiq drafted victory against Farman Shakeel 6-2, 6-2. In the semifinals, Abid will play Ahmad Kamil while Imran Bhatti will vie against Heera.

In the U-18 semifinals, Faizan Fayyaz bulldozed Hamza Jawad 6-2, 6-2. In the Under-14 section, emerging player Asad Zaman brushed aside Ameer Mazari 4-2, 5-3 while in the second semifinal Haniya Minhas defeated Shehryar Anees 4-1, 4-2. In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Heera Ashiq/Ahmad Babar overpowered Dr Nufaid/Aqeel 6-1, 6-2 while Omer Babar/Khurram Nazir proved too good against Hassan Riaz/Faizan Fayyaz to win 6-3, 6-4. Imran Bhatti/Tariq Sadiq scored fine victory against Yousaf/Faiz Rasool by 6-2, 6-3. M Abid/Talha Waheed beat Zeeshan Ashraf/Hamza Jawad 6-1, 6-1. In the U-18 quarterfinals, Farman Shakeel beat Shaeel Durab 6-3, 6-3, Bilal Asim beat Shehryar Anees 6-0, 6-4, Hamza Jawad beat Zaeem Ghafoor 6-0, 6-3, Faizan Fayyaz beat Asad Zaman 6-1, 6-3.—Sports Reporter

Parbat Kumar, Farzan Ahmed win pre-quarters

KARACHI: Parbat Kumar overcame stiff challenge from Amin Shafi to win while Farzan Ahmed outplayed Asad Bachani in the mens singles pre-quarters of the 1st KC Premier Cables Sindh Ranking Tennis Championship here at the Karachi Club on Thursday.

Earlier, Asif Bachani of Hyderabad, Zubair Raja, Ashar Mir and M Ali beat their respective rivals in the second round of the mens singles. In the boys/girls under-11 singles second round matches, Ali Bachani beat Aahil Imran 4-2, 5-3.

Results

Men’s Singles (pre-quarters): Parbat Kumar bt Amin Shafi 6-3, 5.7, 10-2

Men’s Singles 2nd Round Asif Bachani ( Hyd) beat Uzair Katchi 3-6, 5-3 rtd, M Ali bt Danish Ramzan 7-5.6-4, Zubair Raja bt Nadir Bachani (HYD) 6-3 7-5, Ashar Mir bt Vinod Das 1-6, 6-4 11-9, Noor--e-Mustafa bt Hussain Godal 6-0, 6-4; Farzan Ahmed bt Asad Bachani 6-0, 6-1

Boy-Girls U.11 Single 2nd Round: Ali Bachani ( Hyd) bt Aahil Imran 4-2 5-3

U-13 Singles (2nd Round): A Wahab Darbari (HYD) bt Faiz Ilyas 4-0 4-1

Juniors U-17 Singles (2nd Round): Mikaeel Ali bt Ali Khatak ( Hyd) 2-6 7-6 (3) 7-3; M Usman bt Ali Hassan 6-4 7-6

Men’s Doubles (2nd Round): Vinod +Rayan bt Hashir + Zeerak 8-1; Asad Ali Bhagat +Nomi Qamar bt Saifullah+Haris Tariq 8-3; Aqeel Khan +Murad Khan bt Osama Khan + Asim Gul 8-3; Rizwan+Farhan Altaf bt Samad Ghulam Mehmood 8-2

35-Plus Doubles (2nd Round): Noman Farid +Rafi Derbari bt Ali Imran + Vinod Das 8-6; Anil Das +Bilal bt Shamaeel Tajamul +Ali Mansoor Zaidi 8-1

Seniors 50-plus Doubles: Rafi Derbari+Shabbir Gul bt Imran Diwani +Farrukh 8-3; Muhammad Iltifat + Jawad Iqbal bt M. Akram +Altaf Aziz 8-0; Altaf Hussain +Asif Ismail bt Akbar Hayat +M Tahir 8-1.—Agencies

Newage/Rizvi’s excel in polo cup

LAHORE: Newage/Rizvi’s won both of their two-chukker matches to qualify for the subsidiary final of the Aquafina Allama Iqbal Polo Cup here at the Pakistan Park on Thursday. Three teams played two matches each of two chukkers, apiece and after a tough contest, Newage/Rizvi’s succeeded in winning both of their matches and qualified for the subsidiary final. In the first match, two-goal Salvado Ulloa enabled Newage/Rizvi’s beat Remounts 3 1/5-3.

From the winners, who had a half goal handicap advantage, Salvador Jauretche scored one. From Remounts, Ignacio Negri banged in a brace and Bilal Haye hit in one goal. Then Newage/Rizvi’s toppled DS Polo/ASC 4 1/2-0. Salvador Ulloa was star of the day from the winning side, who had a half goal handicap advantage, as he contributed three goals. Salvador Jauretche slammed in one goal.

Remounts outpaced DS Polo/ASC 5-2. Ignacio Negri was star of the day as he pumped in three goals while Vieri Antinori and Bilal Haye added one goal apiece. From DS Polo/ASC, Hissam Ali Hyder slammed in both the goals. On Friday, three more matches will be played including Barry’s vs FG Polo; BN Polo vs Diamond Paints and Master Paints vs against Master Paints Blacks.—Sports Reporter

University of Lahore clinch HEC rugby title

LAHORE: University of Lahore (UoL) clinched the HEC Inter-varsity 7s Rugby Tournament Trophy after thrashing Punjab University 24-0 in the final here at the Pakistan Rugby Academy outside Lahore Airport on Thursday. UoL played powerful rugby and didn’t allow the PU players to score even a single point and won the final by 24-0. From UoL, Husnain, Waqar and Ismail scored tries.—Sports Reporter

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2021