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KARACHI, Nov 28: Continuing from where he had left on Thursday, unseeded Zulfiqar Hakeem stunned second seed Rafi Darbari from Hyderabad in straight sets to cruise into the 35-plus singles final of the Pakistan International Seniors world ranking tennis championship at Karachi Club on the penultimate day.
Zulfiqar, who the other day got the better of Indian K. V. N. Murthy in quarters, struggled to overcome his outstation opponent 7-6 (4), 6-2. He now faces another Hyderabad player, the top seed, Shabbir Gul, who accounted for M. Abdul Saeed in three gruelling sets 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the other pre-final.
The final line-up of the 55 plus singles was also completed on Friday when Gul Hameed and Iltifat Ahmed won their respective matches. The former shocked top seed Jamil Khan 6-2, 6-3 while the latter recovered from one set down to beat Sabih Wali 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
In the 45 plus doubles, the pair of Azheruddin and Karim Gul Agha qualified for the final when they routed top seed duo of Khawaja Masroor and Shahid Aziz 6-2, 6-2.
All the five finals – two singles and three doubles – will be played on Saturday afternoon, the concluding day of the week long event.
Results:
55 plus singles quarter-final:
Iltifat Ahmed bt Anwar Younus 6-2, 6-3.
Semi-finals:
Gul Hameed bt Jamil Khan 6-2, 6-3; Iltifat Ahmed bt Sabih Wali 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
35 plus singles semi-finals:
Zulfiqar Hakeem bt Rafi Darbari (Hyderabad) 7-6 (4), 6-2; Shabbir Gul (Hyderabad) bt M. Abdul Saeed 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
35 plus doubles quarter-finals:
Shabbir Gul and Rafi Darbari bt Imran and Suhail 6-3, 6-1; Altaf Hussain and Zulfiqar Hakeem bt Waseem Hyder and Ali Sawani 6-2, 6-4; Shahid Hussain and Asif Ismail bt M. Abdul Saeed and Bashir Khan 6-2, 6-3.
55 plus doubles first round:
Gulzar Firoz and M. Ali bt M. Baqi Kaker and Dr. Shahid 6-0, 6-1.
Second round:
Idrees Kodvavi and Yousuf Suleman bt Amin Bawani and Fhilippo Giuseppe 6-1, 6-1.
45 plus doubles semi-final:
Azheruddin and Karim Gul Agha bt Khawaja Masroor and Shahid Aziz 6-2, 6-2.
Saturday’s fixtures:
Singles finals 4.00pm; doubles finals 5.00pm.
