ISLAMABAD: Top seeds Aqeel Khan and Moham­mad Shoaib adva­nced into the next round of the 10th Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Cham­pionships here at the PTF-SDA Tennis Complex on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s tennis ace Aqeel, 44, comfortably beat Huzaima Abdul Rehman 6-3, 6-4 while Shoaib had a contrasting fixture against Ahmed Nael Qureshi where he eventually prevailed 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-2.

Ahmed, 18, displayed great skills as he won the gruelling first set but Shoaib utilised his experience in the following sets to ensure his place in the second round.

In the other first-round fixtures, Muzammil Mur­taza cruised past Sami Zeb Khan 6-3, 6-4 while Barka­ullah thumped Jibran-ul-Haq 6-1, 6-0.

The women’s section witnessed lop sided results as Laiba Iqbal, Noor Malik and Amna Khan registered straight sets wins. Zaira Ahmed was also the only player to drop a set during her match against Saleha Batool.

Zaira was also cruising towards victory when she won the first set 6-0 but Saleha clinched the next set 6-4, stunning everyone. Saleha, though, lost the momentum, losing the decider 6-1.

In the boys Under-18 second round, Ahtesham Humayun beat Ruhab Faisal 6-3, 6-3 while Bilal Asim brushed aside Azan Shahid 6-0, 6-1.

Mohammad Yahya also won his match against Nabeel Ali Qayum 7-6(5), 6-1 and Asad Zaman showed grit as he came from a set down to beat Haziq Asim 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

Hamza Asim, Abubakar Talha, Mohammad Salar and Hamza Roman also moved into the next round from the Under-18 category with easy victories.

Boy’s Under-14 first round matches saw Moha­mmad Aayan, Ismail Aft­ab, Razik Sultan, Ruhab and Zohaib Amjab recording victories while Moaz­zam Babar and Mohammad Faizan emerged victorious in the boys Under-12 category.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2025