KARACHI Nov 8: Fourth seeded Davis Cupper Tahir Iftikhar survived against lefthanded Hasan Mahmood in a closely fought three set battle before reaching the men’s singles semifinals of the fifth UBL Salma Noorani Tennis Tournament here on Thursday at the Karachi club hardcourt.

Tahir was a set down when he staged a great fight back to overcome tenth seed Hasan Mahmood 4-6,6-2,7-5 to be in the last four where he faces top seeded defending champion Aqeel Khan who had the better former national grasscourt and hardcourt champion Rashid Malik 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in a well-contested match.

Asim Shafik, seeded second to meet Aqeel khan for the Sunday title battle, carved out an effortless 6-0,6-1 victory against Faisalabad’s Shahzad Khan who has recently won the national grasscourt junior title and also two ITF tournaments in Lahore.

Third seed Nomi Qamar, as expected, moved into the men’s singles semifinals eliminating fighting Aurangzeb 7-5,7-5 mostly in baseline dual.

The Tahir - Hasan marathon encounter lasted two hours and ten minutes and it produced several thrilling rallies. Both played mostly from the baseline and pressed each other backhands with powerful drives to cash in on each others mistkes. It was 4-all in the first set as both held their serves before Hasan broke Tahir serve for a 6—4 win

Tahir accelerated the pace of the game in the secnd set and with a series of forehand winners took a commanding 4-1 lead for a 6-2 victory as Hasan became erratic.

Hasan hit a brace of winners to make an early break in the decisive third set for a 4-2 lead as Tahir committed unforced errors. However, Tahir steadied his game and his ground strokes functioned effectively and the Davis Cupper broke back to be 5-5 and held his own serve for 6-5 lead. Hasan lost his serve as his returns went out of court or in the net and Tahir was victor 7-5.

Unseeded Nida Rahim caused an upset when she defeted fourth seed Zarmeen 6-1,6-2 to qualify for the women s singles semifinals. Mehvish Chishtie, the top seed, second seed Marium Rahim and third seed Nausheen Iftikhr all were through to lst four by defeating their opponents.

Following were results

Men’s singles (Quarterfinals ) Asim Shafik bt Shahzad Khan 6-0,6-1, Nomi Qamar bt Aurangzeb 7-5,7-5, Tahir Iftikhar bt Hasan Mahmood 4-6,6-2,7-5, Aqeel khan bt Rashid Malik 7-6(7-3 ),6-4.