ISLAMABAD: It seems that Aqeel Khan’s 20-year long domination in Pakistan’s tennis circuit has diminished as he was defeated by promising young player Muzammil Murtaza in the final of Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament here at the PTF Complex on Sunday.

It was Aqeel’s second defeat at the hands of Muzammil, after the latter beat the veteran in the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed National Ran­king Championship final last month.

Both finals saw the 20-year-old down Aqeel in the first two sets with Muzammil taming Aqeel 6-4, 7-5 in the latest victory. Earlier, in the doubles cateogry, Aqeel and Muzammil beat Mohammad Abid and Waqas Malik 6-4, 6-4, 10-8.

Mahin Aftab and Ushna Suhail clinched the girls’ doubles event after convincingly defeating Sara Mansoor and Sarah Mehboob 6-1, 6-4. Mohammad Shoaib won the U-18 championship after defeating Subhan-bin-Salik 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

The U-14 singles final was won by Bilal Asim, who defeated Haider Ali Rizwan 6-2, 6-3 while Huzaifa Khan and Hamid Israr won the Boys’ U-14 doubles final against Ahmed Nael and Bilal Asim 4-1, 4-0. Hamza Roman, after overcoming Husnain Ali Rizwan 4-2,3-5,4-2, won the U-12 title while Hamza Ali Rizwan won the U-10 final after taming Hassan Usmani 4-0,5-4 (2).

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2020