KARACHI, Feb 23: Seventh seed Vinod Das extended Davis Cupper Yasir Khan to full distance before losing the men’s singles quarter-final battle in three sets in the Sindh ranking tennis tournament at CDGK sports complex on Friday.
Das stormed back to drew level by taking the second set 6-1 after third seed Yasir had won the opener 6-4. Yasir, who recently represented the country in the Davis Cup tie against the Philippines, wrapped up by winning the decisive set 6-2.
He now takes on the winner of Aqeel Khan-Mubashir Afridi match in the pre-final. Top seed Aqeel who crossed two hurdles by virtue of a bye and a walkover is yet to open his account.
Mubashir advanced to the quarter-final after overcoming Zuhair Raza 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in three hour gruelling match.
Second seed Jalil Khan was in a hurry as he demolished Syed Abbas Raza 6-1, 6-1 to face fourth seed Nasir Mushtaq in semis. Nasir, member of Pakistan team in junior Davis Cup held at Malaysia last year, notched up 6-1, 6-2 victory over Rizwan Shamsi.
Playing his second match of the day, Nasir, a highly promising player, made his mark by getting the better of Ahad Hussain Khan 6-0, 6-0 to cruise in the juniors U-17 last four. He is now drawn to meet Abdul Rehman.
In the other pre-final, Hashim Khan faces the winner of Konanin Qurban/Syed Zuhair Raza.
Upcoming Khwaja Hamza has reached the boys U-13 and U-11 singles semi-finals with contrasting wins. While he struggled to beat fighting Imran Mooraj 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the U-13, he had a smooth 6-0, 6-0 sailing over Ahmed Hasan Khan in U-11.
Talha Zubair Surmawala claimed the boys U-9 title when he beat Ali Mooraj twice in best of three pro sets. Only two players entered the contest.
Nameer Shamsi became the first player to propel in the boys U-15 semi-finals when he whipped Ashad Chaudhry 6-0, 6-2. Earlier in the day he routed Omer Usman 6-2, 6-1.
Results:
Men’s singles (second round):
Mubashir Afridi bt S. Zuhair Raza 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
(Quarter-finals):
Yasir Khan bt Vinod Das 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Nasir Mushtaq bt Rizwan Shamsi 6-1, 6-2; Jalil Khan bt bt S. Abbas Raza 6-1, 6-1.
Men’s doubles (quarter-finals):
Faisal Mehmood/Taimoor Mehmood (Isb) bt Ahmed Ejaz/Omer Jahangir (Qta) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Mubashir Afridi/Abbas Raza bt Shahzaib/Fahim 6-0, 6-0.
Boys U-13 singles (first round):
Arif Khan bt Shahryar Ahmed 6-1, 6-2.
(Quarter-finals):
Adil Kohari bt Ramis Farishta 6-1, 6-0; Khwaja Hamza bt Imran Mooraj 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Juniors U-17 singles (pre-quarter-finals):
Ahad Hassan Khan bt Hasan Ahmed 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7) ; Konain Qurban w/o Hussain Jessani.
(Quarter-final):
Nasir Mushtaq bt Ahad Hassan 6-0, 6-0.
Boys U-9 (round robin):
Talha Zubair Surmawala bt Ali Mooraj 8-5, 8-4.
Boys U-15 singles (first round):
Ali Zubair Surmawala bt Qamber Haider 7-5, 6-2.
(Pre-quarter-finals):
Nameer Shamsi bt Omer Usman 6-2, 6-1; Abdul Rehman bt Syed Ali Imran 6-0, 6-0; Ramis Farishta bt Yayha Essa 7-6 (7-6), 6-1.
(Quarter-final):
Nameer Shamsi bt Ashad Chaudhry 6-0, 6-2.
Boys U-11 singles (first round):
Khwaja Hamza bt Ahmed Hassan Khan 6-0, 6-0.
Ladies doubles (round robin):
Seher Khwaja/Eman Malik bt Domichi Michico/Mitsoko Ishikawa 6-1, 7-6(8-6).
Saturday’s fixtures:
Boys U-11, U-13 (quarter-finals) 9am; Boys U-15 (pre-quarter-finals) 11am; juniors U-17 (quarter-finals) 1pm; men’s singles (semi-finals) 2pm; ladies singles (semi-finals) 3pm.
