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LAHORE, Dec 20: Upcoming tennis players Ahmad Aslam (Punjab) and Yasir Khan (Sindh) and ex-Davis Cupper Rashid Malik caused big upsets to qualify for the quarter-finals of the IC Open National Tennis Championship at the Bagh-i-Jinnah courts on Wednesday.
The 17-year-old Ahmed ousted Davis Cupper Nomi Qamar, who opted to retire due to pain in shoulder after being 6-4, 5-3 down in the match. Ahmed had stunned Nomi by winning the first set with a break in the 4th game. He was in sight of a certain victory with 5-3 lead when Nomi decided to concede the match due to severe pain in his shoulder.
Pakistan junior champion Yasir, the younger brother of Aqeel Khan, shocked seasoned campaigner Mahmood Khan of Peshawar in a nail-biting contest. Yasir finally emerged victorious with the score being 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4.
Yasir raced to victory in the first set as he broke Mahmood in the 8th game. But Mahmood remained in contention with his brisk play and levelled the scores 1-1 after a gruelling fight in the second set which entered the tie-breaker. But Yasir got the better of a tiring Mahmood in the third set, winning with consummate ease.
Rashid Malik ousted sixth seed Mohammad Shafiq in a one-sided match 6-2, 6-1.
The 45-year-old Rashid, also non-playing captain of Pakistan, spent only 27 minutes on the court to earn a commendable win.
Top seed Aqeel Khan has easy sailing, defeating Abid Ali 6-3, 6-2. Another seeded Asim Shafik faced little opposition from upcoming Tanveer Ashiq before winning 6-4, 6-3 while lanky Shahzad Khan proved too good for Umair Qayyum in a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Jalil Khan powered his way to the last eight by defeating Khurram Nazir 6-2, 6-3.
Six matches were decided in boys U-13 category, three in U-15 and one in U-17.
Results:
Men's singles (pre-quarterfinals):
Aqeel Khan bt Abid Ali 6-3, 6-2; Ahmed Aslam(Punjab) bt Nomi Qamar 6-4, 5-3 (retired); Shahzad Khan bt Umair Qayyum 6-1, 6-1; Yasir Khan (Sindh) bt Mahmood Khan 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4; Asim Shafik bt Tanveer Ashiq 6-4, 6-3; Rashid Malik bt Shafiq 6-2, 6-1; Jalil Khan bt Khurram Nazir 6-2, 6-3; Inam Gul bt Umer Babar 6-2, 6-2.
Boys U-13:
Zuhair Raza bt Ahmed Chaudhary 6-3, 6-1; Abdul Rehman bt Umair Saeed 6-1, 6-1; Adil Kohari bt Shah Naseeb 6-2, 6-1; Mohammad Abid got walk over against Ibrahim; Arsalan Siddiqui got walk over against Jibran-ul-Haq; Faizan Khurram bt Sajid Ali 6-1, 6-1.U-15 (1st round): Faizan Khurram bt Ahmed Chaudhary 6-2, 6-1; Ali Umer Hayat Malik bt Omair Saeed 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Saad Mubarik bt Hishan Khan 6-0, 6-0.
Boys U-17: Shan Bukhari bt Malik Abdul Rehman 6-2, 6-0.
