KARACHI, June 9: Emad Najam qualified for the main draw in juniors under-17 and under-15 categories of the NBP Open ranking tennis championship at Modern Club here on Thursday.
Emad carved out a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Aun Ahmed in qualifying round three to reach the under-17 main draw. Earlier, he got a bye in the first round and a walkover in the next.
Joining him in the main draw was Nazif Ahmed who swept aside Maaz Qadir 6-1, 6-0. Nazif too, got a bye in the first round and a walkover against Daniyal Ahmed in the second. Two more qualifiers will complete the main draw.
In the under-15 event, Emad defeated Waniya Khan 6-0, 6-1 in convincing fashion in final qualifiers to earn a berth in the main round.
As for under-13, three of the four players — Hania Naved, Mohammad Ali Shehryar and Muneeb Ahmed — made the main round.
Hania made a 6-0, 6-0 short work of Aisha Ahmed, Shehryar got the better of Adnan Khan 6-4, 6-1 while Muneeb got a walkover against Romman Ahmed. The former had lodged a protest against the latter that he (Romman) was overage and he failed to turn up for the tie.
The main-round matches gets into action on Friday.
Results:Men’s singles:Qualifying round one: Hassan Siddiqui bt Ali Imam 6-0, 6-1; Maaz Qadir bt Waqas Nafees (walkover); Jonathan bt Ehsan-ur-Rehman 6-2 (retired); M. Farhan bt Asadullah (walkover); Salman Ahmed bt Murad Khan 6-3, 6-2.
Qualifying round two: Changez Hasan bt Salman Ahmed 6-4, 6-0; Shakoor Khan bt M. Ehtisham 6-4, 6-0; Nameer Shamsi bt Hassan Siddiqui 6-3, 1-6, 10-3.
Juniors’ under-17 boys’ and girls’ singles:Qualifying round two: Omer Shams bt Ahsan Ismail (walkover); Daniyal Siddiqui bt Rabiuddin 6-0, 6-4; Yayha Essa bt Harish Das 6-0, 6-0; Dawar Rehan bt Abid Khan 6-2, 6-0; Aun Ahmed bt Eman Bari 6-0, 6-0.Qualifying round three: Emad Najam bt Aun Ahmed 6-4, 7-5; Nazif Ahmed bt Maaz Qadir 6-1, 6-0.
Boys’ and girls’ under-15 singles:Qualifying round two: Ibrahim Iltifat bt Shahmir Faisal 6-0, 6-0; Waniya Khan bt Naved Vilani (walkover); Emad Najam bt Ahsan Azeem 6-0, 6-2.Qualifying round three: Emad Najam bt Waniya Khan 6-0, 6-1.
Boys’ and girls’ under-13 singles:Qualifying round one: Mohammad Ali Shayan bt Shazil Malik 6-0, 6-1; Raahim Ahmed bt Houd Azhar (walkover).Qualifying round two: Hania Naved bt Aisha Ahmed 6-0, 6-0; Mohammad Ali Shayan bt Adnan Khan 6-4, 6-1; Muneeb Ahmed bt Romman Ahmed (walkover).Friday’s fixtures:Qualifying-round matches start at 9am.