ISLAMABAD (APP): Muhammad Shoaib, Aqeel Khan, Yousaf Khalil, Barkatullah, Muzammil Murtaza, Muhammad Abid Ahmad Nael Qureshi and Mudassar Murtaza moved into the quarterfinals by winning their respective matches at the 36th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships at Syed Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex, Garden Avenue, Islamabad on Wednesday.
The best encounter of the day was held between upcoming youngster Ahmad Nael Qureshi and Saqib Hayat, which was won by the former after a thrilling three-set match 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5.
Qureshi won the toss and chose to receive. He built up the winning lead 4-2 by breaking the 1st and 5th games but Saqib bounced back brilliantly and levelled the set 6 games all. The set was decided in the tie break which was won by Qureshi 7-3. In the second set Saqib Hayat exhibited excellent game.
He changed the strategy and built up the winning lead 4-2 He continued the same pace and won the second set at 6-4, leveling the match one set all. In the final set, Saqib Hayat continued his winning lead 4-2 by breaking the 1st and 3rd games but was unable to hold his winning streak against the promising Qureshi, who not only changed his pace of game but also played aggressively and hit excellent cross court and down the lines to level the set 5 games all. By holding the 11 games, he took the lead 6-5.
In the 12th game, Qureshi was in full form and did not allow his opponent to settle down. He won the game at 15-40 and finished the match by winning the set at 7-5, qualifying for the quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, he will face 2nd Seed Aqeel Khan.
In the Junior 18&U Singles, 6th seed Kashan Tariq struggled hard to win his encounter against Talha Khan in a thrilling three-set match 5-7 6-3 6-0.
Following are the complete results:
Men’s Singles 2nd Round:
Muhammad Shoaib (PAF) beat Amir Mazari 6-1 6-1, Yousaf Khalil beat Hamza Roman 6-3 6-3, Muzammil Murtaza beat M.Salaar Khan 6-2 6-1, Barkatullah beat Shahzad Khan 3-1 (Retd.) Mudassar Murtaza beat Sami Zeb Khan 6-2 6-1, Muhammad Abid beat Huzaima Abdul Rehman 6-1 6-1, Ahmad Nael Qureshi beat Saqib Hayat 7-6(3) 4-6 7-5, Aqeel Khan beat M.Zaryab Khan 6-2 6-0.
Junior 18&U Singles 2nd Round:
Hamid Israr beat Rayyan Khan 6-1 6-2, Zohaib Afzal Malik beat Saifullah Khan 6-3 6-3, M.Salaar Khan beat Abdul Basit 6-4 6-3, Muhammad Hamza Aasim beat M.Rehaan Noori 6-1 6-0, Kashan Tariq beat Talha Khan (PES) 5-7 6-3 6-0, Hamza Roman w/o Hasir Ahmad, Ahmad Nael Qureshi beat Amir Mazari 6-1 6-2.
Junior 18&U Singles 1st Round (Unfinished match):
Hamid Israr beat Waqas Janas 6-1 6-1, Talha Khan (PES) beat Inam Qadir 7-5, 5-7 7-6(5), Samer Zaman beat Ali Zain 6-3 6-2, Hasir Ahmad w/o Abdullah Khan, Hamza Roman beat Shahsawar Khan 6-4 6-4.
Boys 14&U Singles 2nd Round:
Zohaib Afzal Malik beat Raja Muhammad Taha 4-0 4-0, Muhammad Junaid Khan beat Junaid Meher 1-4 5-4(6) 4-0, Essa Fahad beat Azan Imran 4-0 4-1, Muhammad Shayyan beat Zayd Zaman 4-1 4-1, M.Hassan Usmani beat Rohan Sohail 4-2 4-1, Razik Sultan neat Waqas Janas 4-2 2-4 4-0, Zohaib Amjad beat Arslan Khan 4-1 4-1.
Boys 14&U Singles 1st Round:
Junaid Meher beat Abdullah 3-5 4-1 4-2, Rohan Sohail beat Aabdaar Ali 1-4 4-1 4-0. Arshiman beat Mahd Mehmood 5-4(5) 4-2. Men’s Doubles were in progress till filling of this report.
