KARACHI, Sept 1: Pakistan's top seed Aqeel Khan and second seeded Japanese Toshiaki had to break into a sweat before making triumphant entries into the semifinals of the ITF Men's Satellite tennis circuit masters tournament played on the hard courts of the Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.
Aqeel facing his doubles partner the tall Indian Vijay Kannan, was all at sea, losing the first set. Attacking from all flanks from the word go Kannan forced Aqeel into numerous unforced errors picking up the first set with remarkable ease 6-1.
Aqeel with his double fisted forehand and backhand smashes caught Kannan on the wrong foot time again, which enabled him to level the scores 1-1 picking up the next set 6-2.
In a better frame of mind Aqeel with several cross court shots kept the hapless Kannan on the run. With his opponent running out of steam, Aqeel turned on the screws and booked his berth in the semifinal, winning the deciding set 6-3.
On court No.1 Toshiaki Sakai won a hard earned first set 6-4, which could of gone the other way, had his Italian rival Enrico Wellenfeld was not guilty of committing several double faults.
Scolding himself for these uncalled for errors, Wellenfeld began to settle down and in another fierce encounter snatched the second set from Sakai to level the scores 1-1.
With the hot sun beating fiercely down on the two players, the final set began in earnest and with each player refusing to budge an inch, the scores were tied at 2-2 after several deuces.
Finally the Japanese left-hander wore down his opponent, who due to frustration continued to commit errors. Finally the ordeal ended when Wellenfeld smashed a return into the net.
Mirko Pehar from the USA managed to overcome a bout of cramps to crush the fighting South Korean Cheong-Eui Kim 6-3, 6-3, while the third Italian in the Tommasco Sanna, also booked his berth amongst the last four ending the pretensions of the 17-year-old Indian Vivek Shokeen 6-3, 6-4.
Not ready to risk himself to further injury with his semifinal clash due on thursday against Aqeel Khan, Mirko Pehar decided to pull out of the semifinal clash in the doubles against Mathew Jaco (India) and Atsufumi Yoshikawa, which left his Japanese partner Sakai stranded.
The departure of the top seeds left the door wide open for the second seeds Aqeel Khan and Vijay Kannan, who brushed aside the Pakistani combination of Jalil Khan and Asim Shafik 6-2, 6-4.
This also left the top seed Aqeel with a great opportunity to bag a double crown, winning the doubles with Vijay on Thursday, then adding more silverware on Friday, after bagging the men's singles crown.
RESULTS: MENS SINGLES QUARTERFINALS
Mirko Pehar (USA) bt Cheong-Eui Kim (South Korea) 6-3, 6-3; Aqeel Khan (Pakistan) bt Vijay Kannan (India) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Tommaso Sanna (Italy) bt Vivek Shokeen (India) 6-3, 6-2; Toshiaki Sakai (Japan) bt Enrico Wellenfeld (Italy) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Men's doubles semifinals. Aqeel Khan (Pakistan)/Vijay Kannan (India) bt Jalil Khan and Asim Shafik (Pakistan) 6-2, 6-4; Jaco Mathew (India)/Atsufumi Yoshikawa (Japan) w/o Mirko Pehar (USA)/Toshiaki Sakai (Japan).
MEN'S SINGLES SEMIFINAL LINEUP FOR THURSDAY.
11.00am on Court No.1: Aqeel Khan (Pakistan) v/s Mirko Pehar (USA).
11.45am on Court No.1: Tommasco Sanna (Italy) v/s Toshiaki Sakai (Japan).
MEN'S DOUBLES FINAL:
1.00pm. on Court No.1: Jaco Mathew (India)/Atsufumi Yoshikawa (Japan) v/s Aqeel Khan (Pakistan/Vijay Kannan (India).