By Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Mar 13 (APP):Top seed Aqeel Khan and Muhammad Abid reached the men’s singles final of the SA Gardens Pakistan Open Tennis Championships 2021 after winning their respective semifinals played here at the Punjab Tennis Academy Bagh-e-Jinnah on Saturday.
In the men’s singles semifinals, Aqeel Khan was up against M Shoaib and utilized his experience and skills well to win the encounter with a score of 6-2, 6-4. The second semifinal saw M Abid defeating Barkart Ullah, who shocked second seed Muzammil Murtaza earlier in the quarterfinals, in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
In the ladies singles quarterfinals, Sheeza Sajid beat Asfa Shahbaz 6-3, 6-4, Natalia Zaman beat Ashtifila Arif 6-0, 6-4 and ladies champion Ushna Suhail thrashed Shimza Durab 6-0, 6-0.
In the boys U-14 quarterfinals, Haider Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Roman 6-3, 6-2, Shehryar Anees beat Hamza Ali Rizwan 7-6, 6-3, Ahtesham Humayun beat Sameer Zaman 6-0, 6-1 and Asad Zaman beat Ameer Mazari 7-6, 6-4.
In U-12 quarterfinals, Ameer Mazari beat Hashir Alam 5-4, 5-4, Hamza Roman beat Sameer Zaman 4-0, (retired), Abubakar Talha beat Hamza Ali Rizwan 0-4, 4-1, 4-1 and Omer Jawad stunned Haniya Minhas 4-1, 3-5, 4-1. In U-10 quarterfinals, Abdur Rehman beat Eesha Rabi 4-1, 4-1, Mohammad Shayan Afridi beat Inam Bari 4-1, 4-1 and Hajra Sohail beat Salal Bugti 4-0, 4-0.
In men’s doubles quarterfinals, Abid/Waqas beat Aqib/Nofil 6-4, 6-1, Muzammil/Mudassar beat Yousaf/Heera 6-4, 6-4, Aqeel/Ahmad beat Imran/Babar 6-4, 7-6 and Barkat/Shoaib beat Kamil/Khurram 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.
In the boys U-18 doubles semifinals, Hasheesh/Mahatir beat Farman/Nalain 4-1, 5-4(8) and Faizan/Bilal beat Zalan/Hamid 4-2, 4-2. In seniors 40 plus doubles, Aqeel Khan/Talha Waheed beat M Shakeel/Israr Gull 6-1, 6-2.