KARACHI, April 16: There were no surprises as the top four seeds stormed into the men’s singles semi-finals whipping their opponents in straight sets in the Pakistan Open tennis championship at the Karachi Club on Wednesday.

Top seed Aqeel Khan inflicted a 6-1, 6-4 defeat on Nasir Mushtaq and is now slated to meet fourth seed Nomi Qamar, who in the other encounter, subdued Faisalabad’s sixth seed Shehzad Khan 6-4, 6-4.

Islamabad’s Asim Shafik, the third seed and current member of the Pakistan Davis Cup team, brushed aside fifth seed Yasir Khan 6-1, 6-4. He faces second seed Jalil Khan who got the better of Faisalabad’s unseeded Shahid Khan 6-2, 6-2.

The two semi-finals are to be played simultaneously on the penultimate day, Thursday, at 3.00pm.

Second seed Sara Mansoor (Islamabad), third seed Saba Aziz (Lahore) and fourth seed Ushna Suhail (Lahore) joined top seed Sara Mehboob in the last four.

Sara Mansoor was stretched to limits by Lahore’s Mehreen Izhar on way to registering a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

Similarly, Saba Aziz overcame fighting Mehak Khokhar in a three-set duel 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 while Ushna Suhail was home 6-2, 6-2 against local girl Sara Ahmed.

Upcoming Khawaja Hamza and Imran Mooraj also booked their berths in the boys’ U-13 singles semis. The former beat Quetta’s Aurangzaib 6-3, 6-4 while the latter defeated Islamabad’s Fahad Zafar 6-1, 6-3.

Top seed Zuhair Raza recovered from one set down to register 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over unseeded Quetta’s Ishaq Khan to reach the juniors’ U-17 singles semi-final.

In another match in the same category, Mustafa Zaidi sent Sunny William packing 7-5, 6-3.

Results:

Men’s singles quarter-finals:

Aqeel Khan (Karachi) bt Nasir Mushtaq (Karachi) 6-1, 6-4; Asim Shafik (Islamabad) bt Yasir Khan (Karachi) 6-1, 6-4; Nomi Qamar (Karachi) bt Shehzad Khan (Faisalabad) 6-4, 6-4; Jalil Khan (Karachi) bt Shahid Khan (Faisalabad) 6-2, 6-2.

Juniors U-17 singles quarter-finals:

Syed Zuhair Raza bt Ishaq Khan (Quetta) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; Mustafa Zaidi bt Sunny William 7-5, 6-3.

Ladies singles quarter-finals:

Sara Mansoor (Islamabad) bt Mehreen Izhar (Lahore) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Ushna Suhail (Lahore) bt Sara Ahmed (Karachi) 6-2, 6-2; Saba Aziz (Lahore) bt Mehak Khokhar (Islamabad) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Boys U-13 singles pre quarter-finals:

Arsalan Allawala bt M. Ibrahim 6-3, 6-4; Aurangzaib (Quetta) bt Adeel Zulfiqar 6-2, 6-0.

Quarter-finals:

Khawaja Hamza bt Aurangzaib (Quetta) 6-3, 6-4; Imran Mooraj bt Fahad Zafar (Islamabad) 6-1, 6-3.

Men’s doubles first round:

Asghar Sawani/Waseem Hyder bt Naumanul Haq/Zuhair Raza 6-3, 6-4; Nomi Qamar/Yasir Khan bt Nasir Mushtaq/Asfand Rauf 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; Aqeel Khan/Jalil Khan bt Shahid Khan/Zia Hai 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Shehzad Khan/Asim Shafik walkover Robin Das/Sunny William.Thursday’s fixtures:

Juniors U-17 singles semi-finals 12.00noon; boys U-13 singles quarter-finals 2.30pm; men’s singles semi-finals, ladies singles semi-finals 3.00pm; men’s doubles 4.30pm.