LAHORE: Muzammil Murtaza upset longest serving Pakistan No. 1 Aqeel Khan in the 6th Sheheryar Malik Memorial Pakistan Open Tennis Championship 2022 men’s singles semifinal played here at SBP Tennis Courts on Thursday.
In the first semifinal, Muzamil was off to a flying start against tennis ace of Pakistan – Aqeel Khan – as he conceded just single point to comfortably win the first set 6-1. Aqeel though tried hard to put extra effort to resist the high-flying Muzammil, but his efforts went in vain as Muzammil won the second set too by 6-2 to set final clash against Muhammad Shoaib, who faced tough time from Barkat Ullah before winning the crucial match by 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
In the ladies’ singles first semifinal, Noor Malik (Wapda) showed her class against classy Meheq Khokhar and outlasted her by 6-4, 6-1. The second semifinal proved a one-sided affair, where ladies tennis champion Sarah Mehboob Khan taught tennis lesson to young Sheeza Sajid and comfortably won the encounter by 6-0, 6-1 to set title clash against Noor Malik.
In the men’s doubles quarterfinals, Heera Ashiq/Yousaf Khalil beat Imran Bhatti/Parbhat Kumar 3-6, 6-4, 10-5. Earlier in men’s doubles pre-quarterfinals, Bakir Ali/Mustafa Burney beat Inam Gul/Hasam Khan 6-4, 1-6, 10-8.
In the seniors 50 plus singles semifinals, Rashid Malik (ZTBL) showed the glimpses of his past glory days and comfortably outsmart Tanveer Haral 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final. In the seniors 45 plus doubles pre-quarterfinals, Israr Gul/Irfan Ullah beat Umer Dilshad/Asghar 6-1, 6-1, Talha Waheed (G&O Pakistan)/Mehboob Waheed beat Col Awais/Shehzad Saleem 6-1, 6-1 and Ashar Khan/Adnan Khan beat Janan Khan/Gul Ahmed 6-4, 7-5.
In the seniors 35 plus doubles quarterfinals, Talha Waheed/Tanveer Muneer beat Tariq Sadiq/Usman Rehmat 6-4, 6-2, Sheheryar Salamat/Kashif Masih beat Faisal Anwar/Hadi Hussain 6-1, 6-4, Arif Feroze/Israr Gul beat Shehzad PAF/Inam Gul 6-2, 6-2.
In the boys U-18 quarterfinals, Bilal Asim beat Abdul Hanan Khan 6-0, 6-2, Hamid Israr beat Hasheesh Kumar 6-4, 6-2, Semi Zeb Khan beat Ahmad Nael 7-5, 7-5, Mahatir Muhammad beat Sheheryar Anees 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. In the girls U-18 quarterfinal, Ashtafila Arif beat Zainab Ali Naqvi 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, Sheeza Sajid beat Laiba Iqbal Khan 6-1, 6-0.
In the boys U-16 pre-quarterfinal, Asad Zaman beat Ameer Mazari 6-1, 5-7, 10-6, M Talha Khan beat Arman Kamran 6-4, 6-3, Abdul Basit beat M Uzair 6-2, 6-2, Shahsawar Khan beat M Shaheer Khan 6-2, 6-0 and Ahtesham Humayun beat Ameer Hamza 6-2, 6-0.
In the boys U-14 quarterfinals, Hamza Roman beat Abdul Basit 7-5, 6-4, Amir Mazari (Aitchison) beat Nabeel Qayum 6-0, 6-4, Zohaib Afzal Malik (LGS Phase V) beat M Sohaan Noor 6-0, 6-2, Abubakar Talha (Wapda) beat Hamza Ali Rizwan 6-1, 6-3.
