ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Pakistan's Nomi Qamar and Mehmood Khan were among 10 players to qualify for the main round of the Subh-i-Nau ITF Satellite Circuit Championship at the Islamabad Club on Sunday.
The Indian players continued their domination for the second day running with six of their players making the main draw that begins on Monday. Wirk Ganguly, Gurmehar Singh, Siddarth Gulati, Vivek Shokeen, Varun Walia and Yannick Nelord were the Indian players who advanced. Sandeep Kumar had already qualified for the main round.
Australian Dane Fernandez and South Korea's Cheong-Eui Kim were the two other players who went through. Nomi did not have to do much on court as he easily beat India's Sujai Reddy 7-6 (0) after his opponent retired on medical grounds.
It was also an easy day for Mehmood who knocked out another Indian Vishal Gaur 6-0, 6-0 in quick time. But Pakistani veteran Hamid-ul-Haq had to retire for medical reasons in his match against Siddharth Gulati, who scored a 4-6, 6-4, 4-1 victory. The main round of the championship is due to be inaugurated on Monday morning by Syed Dilawar Abbas, who heads the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF).
RESULTS: Wirk Ganguly (Ind) bt Vikas Punna (Ind) 7-6 (5), 6- 1, Mehmood Khan (Pak) bt Vishal Gaur (Ind) 6-0, 6-0, Gurmehar Singh (Ind) bt Arindam Datta (Ind) 7-6 (5), 4-0 rtd, Siddharth Gulati (Ind) bt Hamid-ul-Haq (Pak) 4-6, 6-4, 4-1 rtd, Nomi Qamar (Pak) bt Sujai Reddy (Ind) 7-6 (0) retd, Yannick Nelord (Ind) bt Muhammad Shafiq (Pak) 7-6 (8), 6-7 (5), 7-5, Vivek Shokeen (Ind) bt Atsufumi Yoshikawa (Jap) 6-4, 6-2, Dane Fernzandez (Aus) bt Kamran Khalil (Pak) 6-2, 6-4, Varun Walia (Ind) bt Akbar Pataudi 6-1, 6-4, Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor) bt Usman Bangash (Pak) 6-0, 6-0.
MONDAY'S FIXTURES (FIRST ROUND, SINGLES): Aqeel Khan (Pak) v Mio Puhanic (Austria), Asim Shafiq (Pak) v Jaco Mathew (Ind), Mehmood Khan (Pak) v Andrian Venturi (Aus), Nomi Qamar (Pak) v Vishal Punna (Ind), Kamala Kannan (Ind) v Rahil Syed (Ind), Kamil Filali (Mor) v Vijay Kannan (Ind).