KARACHI, May 18: Lahore’s Nabila Haq and Sehr Khawja, made triumphant entries into the women’s singles semifinals, after downing their respective opponents in the Pakistan national hard court tennis championship played on the Karachi Gymkhana courts on Wednesday afternoon. On a very hot and humid afternoon, Nabila and Zarmeen Shoeb, were engaged in a keen tussle and both players were drenched with sweat after the match after Nabila finally overcame Zarmeen’s stiff challenge 6-3, 6-4.

Sehr, however, had an easier outing against Alay Zehra 6-0, 6-0.

But it was rather sad to see the girls in the under-18 event struggling with the hot sun beating down mercilessly.

Bushra Chawla moved into the semifinal with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over 10-year-old Shamin 6-0, 6-1. Maher Tanveer also moved amongst the last four, shutting out nine-year-old Mahiam Masood 6-0, 6-0 and Quratulain beat Saba M. Yousuf 6-2, 6-1.

In the boys under-17 event, third seed Ahmed Aslam from Lahore was lucky to survive and move into the semifinal round, after his opponent Salman Ahmed was awarded a walkover as Ahmed came late for his match at 2-30 p.m., which was actually to begin at 10.30 a.m.

When Ahmed realised that he was out of the tournament, he pleaded his case with the tournament director and secretary, Sindh Tennis Association (STA) Khalid Rehmani, who refused to change the verdict.

However, in a great sporting display, 15-year-old Salman agreed to play his match with Ahmed and after a keen tussle lost the match 6-4, 6-4 as Ahmed, now a happy individual, made his way through.

Also reaching the semifinals were Khurram Nazir, a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Jahangir Nazir and top seed Omer Baber cruising through a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Zohair Raza.

In the boys under-13 event, Manoj Kumar had to struggle to finally overcome Wilson Williams 6-7, 6-3, 6-0. Abu Bakar beat Adil Owais 6-2, 6-2 and Omer Shahid romped past Mustafa Ibrahim 6-0, 6-0.

Shirman was awarded a walkover after his opponent Sarmad Munir from Hyderabad arrived late for his match and the same could be said about Hassan Azad, after his opponent Shehzad Khan also turned up late.

Anas Yousuf, a promising lad from Hyderabad after beating Ehsan Ali 6-4 in the first set, breezed through 6-1 in the next to book his berth into the next round.

Top seed Aqeel Khan beat Jahanzeb 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the men’s singles and was followed home by third seed Nomi Qamar, who accounted for Ahmed Aslam 6-1, 6-1. Inam Gul had to work hard in overcoming M. Manzer 6-4, 6-2, while Shehzad Khan also moved ahead with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Hari Das.

In the men’s doubles, Tanveer Munir and Fahad Ahmed lost the first set to Jamil Ahmed and Inam ul Haq 6-4 and after the scores were tied at 3-3 in the second, Jamil and Inam were forced to pull out after Jamil injured himself.

The father-son combination of Baber and Omer Baber lost the first set to the Khan brothers Aqeel and Jalil in a hard fought encounter 7-5, but were unable to continue the match after M. Baber was totally exhausted due to the immense heat.

The fancied combination of Khalid Hameed and Inamul Haq beat back the young combination of Nasir Mushtaq and Khurram Nazir from Lahore 6-3, 6-3.

Another teenage combination to bow out were Ghulam Abbas Panju and Robin Das who were beaten by the Peshawar pair of Mehmood Khan and Inam Gul.

Second seeds Asim Shafiq and Shehzad Khan who had beaten unseeded Adnan Khan and Khalid Ali Khan in the recently concluded tennis championship in the men’s doubles final held at the Karachi Club, were this time pitted against each other in the first round and came through.

The former came out victorious once again, but not they were fully stretched by Adnan and Khalid.

Also on to the next round were Nomi Qamar and Mohammad Shafiq, who beat Manzer and Mohammad Ali Nazar 6-1, 6-2 and the Peshawar pair of Jehanzeb Khan and Usman Khan 6-4, 6-4 w,inners over Wakil and Hidayatuyllah.

Following were the results:

Men’s singles (qualifying round) Vinod Das w/o Saif Ali (Lahore) injured. Haris Das bt Abbas Raza 6-0, 6-2. Salman bt Usman 6-4, 6-2. Ghulam Abbas Panju bt Robin Das 7-6, 6-0. Men’s singles (first round). Aqeel Khan bt Jahanzeb 6-3, 6-3. Nomi Qamar bt Ahmed Aslam 6-1, 6-1. Inam Gul bt M. Manzer 6-4, 6-2, Shehzad Khan bt Hari Das 6-1, 6-1.

Boys under-17 (quarterfinals) Omer Baber bt Zohair Raza 6-0, 6-1. Khursheed Nazir (Lahore) bt Jahangir Rasheed 6-0, 6-0. Ahmed Aslam (Lahore) bt Salman Ahmed 6-4, 6-4. Ali Tariq w/o Fahad Ali.

Boys under-13 (first round): Shimran w/o Sarmad Munir (Hyderabad). Omer Shahid bt Mustafa Ibrahim 6-0, 6-0. Anas Yousuf Zai (Hyderabad) bt Ehsan Ali 6-4, 6-1. Hassan Azad w/o Shehzad Khan. Abu Bakar bt Adil Owais 6-2, 6-2. Manoj Kumar bt Wilson Williams 6-7, 6-3, 6-0.

Ladies singles (quarterfinals): Nabila Haq (Lahore) bt Zarmeen Shoeb 6-3, 6-4. Sehr Khwaja bt Alay Zehra 6-0, 6-0.

Girls singles under-18 (quarterfinals): Bushra Chawla bt Shamin 6-0, 6-1, Maher Tanveer bt Mahiam Masood 6-0, 6-0. Quratulain bt Saba M. Yousuf 6-2, 6-1.

Men’s doubles: Tanveer Munir and Fahad Ahmed (Multan) bt Jamil Ahmed and Inam ul Haq 4-6, 3-3 (retired). Aqeel Khan and Jalil Khan bt M. Baber and Omer Baber 7-5, retired (heat exhaustion). Mohammad Khalid and Hameed ul Haq bt Nasir Mushtaq and Khurram Nazir (Lahore) 6-3, 6-3. Mehmood Khan (Peshawar) and Usman Khan (Peshawar) bt Wakil Khan and Hidayatullah (Peshawar) 6-4, 6-4. Asim Shafiq and Shehzad Khan (Islamabad) bt Adnan Khan and Khalid Ali Khan 6-4, 7-5. Nomi Qamar and Mohammad Shafiq (Sahiwal) bt Manzer and Mohammad Ali Nazar 6-1, 6-2.