KARACHI, Feb 23: Three players including top seed Talha Zubair Surmawala sneaked into juniors’ under-17 singles semi-finals of the 14th Sindh Sports Board (SSB) development series ranking tennis championship at the DHA Central Club courts on Wednesday.

Seeded second in Sindh ranking, Talha was up 3-0 in the first set when his opponent Yayha Gabol conceded the match owing to pain in his hand. Nameer Shamsi, who is struggling to regain form following layoff, made his exit after suffering 5-7, 6-7 defeat to Farhan Mustafa.

Saad Noor Sumar conjured up 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aqeel Khan to surge into last four.

Meanwhile, three seeded players – Nomi Qamar, Omer Shahid and Saif Noor Sumar - also propelled into men’s singles last four after registering emphatic victories over their opponents.

The ladies singles also commenced on Wednesday with 10 players vying for honours.

Results: Men’s singles: Quarter-finals: Nomi Qamer bt Faiq Azam 6-0, 6-1; Omer Shahid bt Fahad Anwar 6-0, 6-1; Saif Noor Sumar bt Talha Zubair Surmawala 6-1, 6-1.

Boys and girls under-15 singles: Second round: Marib Malik bt Usman Arshad 8-7(5).

Juniors’ under-17 singles: Quarter-finals: Talha Zubair Surmawala bt M. Yahya Gabol 3-0 (retired); Farhan Mustafa bt Nameer Shamsi 7-5, 7-6; Saad Noor Sumar bt Aqeel Khan 6-2, 6-2.

Ladies singles: First round: Urooj Iltifat bt Laiba Khan 8-1.

Seniors 45 plus doubles: First round: Sabih Wali and Babar Ali Khan bt Karim Gul Agha and Akhter Aliman 6-1, 6-2.

Thursday’s fixtures: Men’s singles 10.30am; men’s doubles 12noon; juniors under-17 singles 12 noon; boys and girls under-15 singles and boys and girls under-13 singles 3.00pm; boys under-9 singles 4.30pm; seniors 45 plus singles 6.00pm.