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LAHORE, Oct 25: Top seed Aqeel Khan beat Rashid Malik 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to move into the semifinals while Nomi Qamar overpowered Hameed-ul-Haq who retired in the third set in the 38th national grass court tennis championship Thursday.
In other quarterfinals, Tahir Iftikhar thrashed Fayyaz Khan 6-3, 6-3 and Asim Shafiq defeated Mohammad Shafiq 6-2, 6-1.
In the men’s singles semifinals to be played Friday Aqeel Khan play Tahir Iftikhar while Asim Shafiq face Nomi Qamar.
Rashid lost the first set 6-3, fought back to level the score 5-5 against the defending champion Aqeel in the second set.
Aqeel, however, came back in the tiebreaker and overwhelmed Rashid Malik 7-3.
Hameed got off to a flying start by clinching the first 6-3 against Nomi.
However, Nomi levelled the score by winning the second set 6-3. Hameed conceded the match after being exhausted when Nomi was leading by three 3-0 games in the third set.
On Thursday, Ashiq Rasool beat Kumail Hasan in three sets in the boys singles under-18 match. Kumail won the first set 4-6 but could not maintain his tempo and lost the next two.
In a boys singles under-14 pre-quarterfinals, Yahya Khan overcame Fahd Ali after being fully extended. Yahya won the first set, conceding only three games. Fahd fought back to level the 1-1 losing only one game in the second set. Yahya recovered and won the third set 6-4.
The finals of all other events, except the men’s singles, will be played Saturday (Oct 27). The final will be played on Oct 28.
RESULT:
Men’s singles quarterfinals: Aqeel Khan beat Rashid Malik 6-3, 7-6 (7/3); Tahir Iftikhar beat Fayyaz Khan 6-3, 6-3; Nomi Qamar beat Hameed-ul-Haq 3-6, 6-3, 3-0 (retired); Asim Shafiq beat Mohammad Shafiq 6-2, 6-1.
Boys singles under-18 pre-quarterfinals: Shahzad Khan beat Mustafa Sherdil 6-1, 6-0; Babar Ali beat Jahangir Haider 6-2, 6-2; Munir Ashiq beat Ghulam Husain (Lahore) 6-1, 6-3; Mohammad Nadeem beat Ghulam Husain (Sheikhupura) 6-0, 6-0; Said Mohammad Khan beat Janisar Ahmad 7-6, 7-5; Inam Gul beat Shehryar Niazi 6-4, 6-2.
Second Round matches:
Shahrukh Niazi beat Mohammad Asghar 6-0, 6-0; Ashiq Rasool beat Kumail Hasan 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; Gulzeb Niazi beat Mar Babar 6-3, 6-3
Boys singles under-14 pre-quarterfinals: Imran Rasool beat Pitras Masih 6-0, 6-1; Tanveer Ashiq beat Omar Babar 6-2, 6-4. Shehryar Niazi beat Mohammad Mustafa 6-0, 6-2; Yahya Khan beat Fahd Ali 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Kumail Hasan beat Mohammad Tariq 7-5, 6-2; Tanveer Munir beat Talal Khan 6-0, 6-1.
Ladies singles quarterfinals: Mariam Rahim beat Zara Omar 6-1, 6-1; Nausheen Ihtisham beat Nida Rahim 6-0, 6-1
Veterans doubles (55 years and above): Bashir Ahmad Gill and Sq-Ldr N. Najam beat Lt-Col (retd) Abdur Rauf and Major (retd) Bhatti 6-1, 6-2; Chaudhary Mohammad Munir and Haji Mohammad Siddiq beat M. Z. Awan and partner 6-2, 6-1.
Veterans doubles (under-45 and above): Pervez Bjwa and Inam Baig beat Dr Ayub and Dr Zafar 6-1, 6-3; Laeeq Pirzada and partner beat Inam Baig and partner 6-1, 6-1.
