KARACHI, Nov 28: Unseeded Nazif Ahmed created quite a stir when he shocked second seed Muzammil Murtaza of Jehanian in a three-set duel to advance into boys’ under-14 singles last eight in the Saeed Hai national ranking tennis championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Monday.

Upcoming Nazif, who is making rapid progress on the domestic circuit, won the gruelling battle 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Other players who joined him in the quarters were Islamabad’s Nofil Kaleem and Go Mazhar, Azher A. Qadir and Dawar Rehan.

In yet another upset of the day, local coach and qualifier Khalid Ali Nazar send fifth seed Waqas Malik of Lahore packing to surge into men’s singles quarter-finals.

Waqas, a former Pakistan junior No 1, retired after losing the opening set 3-6.

Other players who made it to the last eight in men’s singles were top seed Aqeel Khan, second seed Yasir Khan, Irfanullah, Imran Shaukat, Nomi Qamar, Mohammad Abid Mushtaq and Usman Rafiq.

Earlier, veteran Rashid Malik could not sustain the challenge from much younger Yasir Khan and bowed out in the men’s singles first round after losing the opening set 5-7.

Results: Men’s singles: First round: Malik Abdul Rehman (Multan) bt Asif Bachani 6-1, 6-1; Israr Gul (Peshawar) bt Shabbir Gul (Hyderabad) (walkover); Usman Rafiq (Lahore) bt Talha Zubair Surmawala 6-4, 6-3; Abdul Majeed bt Rafi Derbari (Hyderabad) (walkover); Yasir Khan bt Rashid Malik (Lahore) 7-5 (retd); Ali Murad (Lahore) bt Saad Noor Sumar 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Pre-quarter-finals: Aqeel Khan bt Malik Abdul Rehman (Multan) 6-2, 6-1; Irfanullah (Peshawar) bt Israr Gul 6-4, 6-4; Imran Shaukat (Multan) bt Ali Murad 6-2, 6-4; Nomi Qamar bt Omer Shahid 7-5, 6-4; Khalid Ali Nazar bt Waqas Malik (Lahore) 6-3 (retd); Mohammad Abid Mushtaq (Lahore) bt Farhan Mustafa 6-1, 6-2; Usman Rafiq (Lahore) bt Abdul Majeed (Hyderabad) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6; Yasir Khan bt Vinod Das (walkover).

Juniors’ under-18 singles: First round: Sheraz bt Owais Ahmed 6-1, 6-4; Jalaluddin Babar (Mirpurkhas) bt Ahsan Ismail 6-1, 5-7, 10-8; Azher A. Qadir bt Ahsan Mahmood 6-1, 6-3; Zubaid Gul (Hyderabad) bt Syed Nofil Kaleem (Islamabad) 7-6, 6-3; Saad Noor Sumar bt Go Mazher 6-0, 6-4; Murad Khan bt Nazif Ahmed 6-3, 7-6; Farhan Mustafa bt Aqeel Shabbir 6-2, 6-2; Malilk Hamza bt Ikramullah (Peshawar) 6-2, 6-0.

Pre quarter-finals: M. Mudassir (Jahanian) bt Shehroz 6-0, 6-0; Talha Zubair Surmawala bt Zubaid Gul (Hyderabad) 6-0, 6-1; Abdul Rehman bt Zuhaib Gul 6-0, 4-0 (retd); Saad Noor bt Asad A. Shakoor 6-1, 6-0.

Boys’ under-14 singles: Pre quarter-finals: Nofil Kaleem (Islamabad) bt Mansoor Khan 6-0, 6-0; Azher A. Qadir bt Shehzad Khan 6-1, 6-2; Go Mazher bt Jalaluddin Babar (Mirpurkhas) 6-0, 6-0; Dawar Rehan bt Azan Khan (walkover); Nazif Ahmed bt Muzammil Murtaza 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Tuesday’s fixtures: Men’s doubles and juniors’ under-18 singles 12noon; boys under-14 singles 2pm; ladies singles 3pm; seniors’ under-45 doubles 5.30pm.