LAHORE, Oct 31: Sixth seed Mohammad Shafiq and ninth seed Jalil Khan were eliminated, while all other top seeds entered the quarterfinals of the Global Telecom Cup National Grass Court tennis championship at the Punjab Coaching Centre courts at Bagh-i-Jinnah, Thursday.
Unseeded Wasif Cheema, defeated Shafiq 6-4, 6-3. Shafiq committed some unforced errors at crucial stages conceding points to Wasif whose drop shots and forehand smashes earned him many winners.
Shahzad Samad of Peshawar outclassed Jalil 6-3, 6-2 to register the other upset of the day.
Top seed Aqeel Khan continued his winning spree and defeated Irfanullah easily 6-2, 6-0 while second seed Asim Shafik, thrashed Munir Ashiq in another effortless match 6-3, 6-3.
Nomi Qamar, third seed, faced some hard fight from Fayyaz Khan before earning a win with the score line of 6-4, 6-4.
In other matches, fourth seed, Rashid Malik walloped Pervaiz Khan 6-0, 6-0.
Upcoming seventh seed Shahzad Khan, struggled to beat 11th seed Mehmood Khan 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Shahzad took a lazy start and paid the penalty by losing the first set. He braced the game and won the next set after tough fight to equalise the score 1-1. In the third set, Shahzad never allowed Mehmood to create any problems before winning the decider after dropping only one game.
In the doubles event Rashid Malik and Aqeel Khan meet Asim Shafik and Shahzad Samad in the first semifinal while Muhammad Shafik and Jalil Khan will challenge
the pair of Aurangzeb and Nomi Qamar in the second prefinal.
In the ladies singles, No 1 Syliva Okollo breezed past Zehra Ali Khan 6-0, 6-0. Nausheen Ihtesham, mother of Pakistan’s top tennis player Aisamul Haq Qureshi, overpowered young Iram Arshad 6-1, 6-1. In another interesting match, Zohra Qamar beat Mehak Khan after gruelling fight in two sets 6-4, 6-4.
In Under- 18 boys singles seven matches were decided in the second round.
Results:
MEN’S SINGLES (pre-quarterfinals): Aqeel Khan bt Irfanullah 6-2, 6-0; Shahzad Khan bt Mehmood Khan 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Nomi Qamar bt Fayyaz Khan 6-4, 6-4; Inam Gul bt Asif Feroze 6-4, 6-3; Shahzad Samad bt Jalil Khan 6-3, 6-2; Rashid Malik bt Pervaiz Khan 6-0, 6-2; Wasif Cheema bt Shafiq 6- 4, 6-3; Asim Shafik bt Munir Ashiq 6-3, 6-3.
MEN’S DOUBLES (quarterfinals): Rashid Malik-Aqeel Khan bt Fayyaz Khan-Israr Gul 6-2, 6-2; Asim Shafik bt Shahzad Qamar bt Irfanullah-Inam Gul 7-5, 6-3; Mohammad Shafiq -Jalil Khan bt Mehmood Khan-Shahid Khan 6-2, 7-6 (7/4); Aurangzeb-Nomi Qamar bt Asif Feroze- Khalid 6-4, 7-5.
BOYS SINGLES U-18 (second round): Omer Babar bt Muhammad Zakariya 6-1, 6-1; Zubair Shah bt Ghulam Hussain 6-1, 6-3; Suleman bt Ghullam Hussain (Lahore) 6-2, 6-4; Yasir Khan bt Pitras Masih 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Tanveer Ashiq bt Ali Raza 6-0, 6-1; Babar Ali bt Ali Raza 6-0, 6-0; Babar Ali bt Zainul Haq 6-0, 6-1; Shahid Afridi bt Menveer 6-1, 6-1.
LADIES SINGLES (second round). Syliva Okollo bt Zehra Ali Khan 6-0, 6-0; Nausheen Ihtesham bt Iram Arshad 6-1, 6-1; Zohra Omer bt Mehak Khan 6-4, 6-4.