LAHORE, Nov 25: A veteran tennis star Rashid Malik achieved a milestone at the age of 44 when he stunned third seed and Davis Cupper Jalil Khan, 22, to cruise into the semifinals of the men’s singles event of the National grass court championship at Bagh-i-Jinnah on Friday.

Rashid proved he has still the stamina to face any challenge as he fought for 150 minutes to beat Jalil in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4).

Rashid excelled with aggressive volley shots and backhand slice. He had excellent placing near the net as Jalil was stranded on many occasions.

Jalil, who served well and engaged Rashid in long rallies in an attempt to make him run for his money failed to achieve any positive results.

Rashid matched Jalil 4-4 in the first set before breaking in the 9th game and then holding his own to go 1-0 up.

Jalil showed fighting spirit and came back in the match winning the second set rather easily.

In the eventful third set, Rashid had gained a comfortable lead 5-2 but Jalil was not ready to throw the match and staged a remarkable comeback.

Rashid broke Jalil in the third and the fifth game to take 5-2 lead. But Jalil managed to break Rashid in the 8th and the 10th game and holding his own tied the score at 6-6 to play the tie-breaker.

Rashid drawing his vast experience won the tie-breaker 7-4 to confirm a place in the last four.

Aqeel continued his winning march to enter semifinals handing out a crushing 6-0, 6-3 defeat to Tanveer Ashiq.

Second seed Nomi Qamar remained beat Inam Gul 6-3, 6-2 while fourth seed Shahzad Khan outplayed Wasif Cheema 6-0, 6-1.

Rashid and Aqeel entered the semifinals of the men’s doubles beating Shahid Afridi-Imran Shaukat 6-3, 6-3.

In the boys’ under-17, Yasir Khan and Ali Umar Hayat Malik carved out three-set wins to move into quarterfinals.

Yasir beat Abid Ali 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 while Ali eliminated Muntazir 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

In the ladies singles, three quarterfinals were held and in one of the best Nitasha Afridi shown Maira Raheem the door 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Top seed Maryam Raheem outclassed Nazir Feroze 6-0, 6-3.

Results:

Men’s singles (quarterfinals): Rashid Malik bt Jalil Khan 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, Aqeel Khan bt Tanveer Ashiq 6-0, 6-3, Shahzad Khan bt Wasif Cheema 6-0, 6-1, Nomi Qamar bt Inam Gul 6-3, 6-2.

Men’s doubles (quarterfinals): Jalil Khan-Shahzad Khan bt Asif Feroze-Khalid 6-4, 6-4, Nomi Qamar-M Shafique bt Tanveer Ashiq-Munir Ashiq 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, Rashid Malik-Aqeel Khan bt Shahid Afridi-Imran Shaukat 6-3, 6-3.

Boys U-17 (pre-quarterfinals): Yasir Khan bt Abid Ali 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, Ahmed Aslam bt Imran Shaukat 6-2, 6-0, Syed Abbas Raza bt Faizan Khurram 7-5, 7-5, Usman Ijaz bt Heera Ashiq 7-5, 7-5, Ali Umar Hayat Malik bt Muntazir 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Boys U-17 (quarterfinals): Umer Babar bt Fahad Ali 6-1, 6-1, Khurram Nazir bt Syed Abbas Raza 6-1, 6-1.

Ladies’ singles (quarterfinals): Nitasha Afridi bt Maira Raheem 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, Sara Mahboob bt Anosha Aslam 7-6 (4), 6-4, Maryam Raheem bt Nazir Feroze 6-0, 6-1.

Girls U-17 (2nd round): Ushna Sohail bt Asia Malik 6-0, 6-3.

Boys U-13 (quarterfinals): Jibranul Haq bt Syed Zuhair Raza 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, Muhammad Abid bt Nomeer Shamsi 6-0, 6-2.