KARACHI, Jan 6: Playing one of the best matches of his career, upcoming fourth-seed Nasir Mushtaq created quite a stir when he sent top seed Jalil Khan packing in three sets to advance to the men’s singles final of the Sindh ranking tennis championship at the Southend Club on Tuesday.
Nasir, 18, recovered from a second set tie-break after conceding the opener, to turn the tables on his opponent and post maiden win over him in three encounters.
Junior international Nasir was home 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in over two hour duel. Nasir had lost to Jalil, a Davis Cup player, in the previous two encounters that were stretched to three sets.
“I’m feeling extremely happy after the triumph against a seasoned player and it’s like achieving a goal,” a jubilant Nasir told Dawn.
He is now drawn to meet second seed and another seasoned campaigner Nomi Qamar who too struggled to whip third seed Yasir Khan in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in 140 minutes.
Earlier, brothers Jalil and Yasir won their quarters in contrasting styles. While the former accounted for another promising player Zuhair Raza 7-6, 7-5, the latter registered a smooth 6-2, 6-1 victory over Hussain Aziz. Nomi completed the semi-final lineup when he overcame Danish Ahmed 6-3, 6-1.
The championship concludes on Wednesday with all the finals on card.
Results:
Men’s singles:
Quarter-finals: Jalil Khan bt Syed Zuhair
Raza 7-6, 7-5; Yasir Khan bt Husain Aziz 6-2, 6-1; Nomi Qamar bt Danish Ahmed 6-3, 6-1.
Semi-finals: Nasir Mushtaq bt Jalil Khan 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-2; Nomi Qamar by Yasir Khan 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Ladies singles:
Quarter-finals: Sara Ahmed bt Maheen Dada 5-7, 6-4, 6-1; Uroosa Ahmed bt Uzma Zakaria – walkover.
Semi-finals: Eman Malik bt Uroosa Ahmed 6-0, 6-0; Seher Khawaja bt Sara Ahmed 6-2, 6-0.
Juniors U-17:
Semi-finals: Syed Zuhair Raza bt Abdul Rehman 6-0, 6-3; Omer Shahid bt Mustafa Zaidi 6-3, 6-3.
Boys U-15:
Quarter-final: Adil Kohari bt Daniyal Jafery 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Boys U-13 singles:
Semi-finals: Talha Zubair Surmawala bt Sanwal Husain 8-0; Sanwal bt Sheryar Hasnain 9-7.
Men’s doubles:
Semi-finals: Robin Das and Vinod Das bt Fraz Ahsan and Shamael 7-6 , 4-6, 7-5; Mohammed Abdul Saeed and M. Naseem bt Abbas and Ali Zubair 6-2, 6-3.
Wednesday’s fixtures (all finals):
Boys U-17 singles, boys U-15 singles, boys U-13 singles 10.00am; ladies singles, juniors doubles, men’s doubles 11.00am; men’s singles 3.30pm.