LAHORE, April 12: Former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik, 51, stole the limelight as he entered the quarter-finals of the Atlas Honda All-Pakistan tennis championships, defeating Usman Rafiq 7-6, 6-1 at the Model Town Club here on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in another pre-quarter-final, second seed Yasir Khan overcame tough resistance to beat Jibran-ul-Haq 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Yasir, who returned from Philippines after featuring in Pakistan’s Davis Cup tie in Manila last week, was hampered by late ball contact and poor returns in the first set.

But Yasir played with more concentration to win the next two sets to ensure his passage to the quarter-finals.

Top seed Aqeel Khan had an easy sailing as he toppled former junior No 1 Omar Babar 6-1, 6-2 while Jalil Khan, the third seed, ousted Ahmed Babar 6-3, 7-6.

Results: Men’s singles: Pre-quarters: Aqeel Khan bt Omar Babar 6-1, 6-2; Jalil Khan bt Ahmed Babar 6-3, 7-6; Yasir Khan bt Jibran-ul-Haq 1-6, 6-3, 6-2; Shehzad Khan bt Malik Abdul Rehman 6-4, 6-3; M. Abid bt Saad Mubarik 6-1, 6-1; Imran Shoukat bt Sadan-ul-Haq 6-2, 6-4; Rashid Malik bt Usman Rafiq 7-6, 6-1; Heera Ashiq bt Ali Murad 6-1, 6-2.

Men’s doubles: Pre-quarters: Saif Ali-Saad Mubarik bt Talha Waheed-Osama Wageed 6-4, 6-3; Faizan Khuram-Saadan bt Imran Shaukat-M. Azhar 6-3, 3-6 (10-8); Jibran-ul-Haq-Ahmed Choudhry bt Ali Murad-Malik Rehman 6-2, 3-6 (10-6); Sanaullah-Usman Ijaz bt Hassan Riaz-Zohair Raja 6-7, 6-4 (11-9).

Boys’ under-18: Quarter-finals: M. Mudasir bt Imad Amir 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Raja Shahid bt M. Muzamil 6-0, 6-1; Hasnain Manzoor bt Saad Noor 6-2, 6-3; Ahmed Babar bt Syed Nofil Kaleem 6-1, 6-2.

School/college team event: Quarter-finals: Govt College bt Allma School 2-0: Imad Amir bt Salman Khursheed 6-0, 6-2; Mohammad Ahmed bt Hassan Khursheed 6-4, 6-3; Garrison Academy bt FC College 2-0.

Boys’ U-14: Pre-quarters: Nofil Kaleem bt Aqib Omer 6-0, 6-0; Mohammad Hassan bt Omer Mughal 6-1, 1-6, 6-1; Shoaib Khan bt Aiman Mughal 6-1, 6-0.

Boys’ U-12: Hafiz Arbaz bt Aqib Omer 6-3, 6-1; Shoaib Akbar bt Ali Bhandari 6-2, 6-0.

Friday’s fixtures: Men’s singles at 10am, boys singles at 9:30am; men’s doubles at 3pm; boys U-14 and U-12 at 4pm.