LAHORE – Aqeel Khan, Muhammad Abid, Ushna Suhail and Noor Malik were declared the joint winners of the SA Gardens Pakistan Open Tennis Championship 2021 men’s and women’s categories as the finals couldn’t take place due to sudden closure of the venue here at the PLTA Courts on Monday.
Some of the finals of the prestigious national tennis tournament were decided while the main finals of the event including men’s and women’s couldn’t take place due to sudden closure of the venue following the Punjab government’s orders regarding Covid-19 SOPs.
Pakistan No 1 Aqeel Khan and Muhammad Abid had to compete against each other in the men’s singles final but as the final couldn’t take place, the trophies, prize money and points were shared between both the players. Same was the case in ladies singles finals, where ladies tennis champion Ushna Suhail of Wapda, the hot favourite to lift the trophy, had to play against surprise package Noor Malik of ZTBL, but due to no play, the trophies, prize money and points were share between them.
Aqeel mainly stole the show by clinching two more trophies, and completed the hat-trick of winning the trophies. Aqeel claimed the second trophy by winning the men’s doubles final, where he, partnering with Ahmad Chaudhry, overwhelmed the pair of Barkat Ullah and Muhammad Shoaib 6-2, 6-1. The No 1 tennis player grabbed his third trophy, when he, partnering with Talha Waheed (Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd), won the seniors 40 plus doubles final by thumping Arif Feroze and Fayyaz Khan 6-1, 6-0.
The boys U-18 title was clinched by Hasheesh Kumar, who outscored Faizan Fayyaz 4-2, 4-0 while Hasheesh doubled his crowns by lifting the boys U-18 doubles final, where he, along with Mahatir Muhammad, outlasted Bilal Asim/Faizan Fayyaz 6-2, 6-3. The girls U-18 trophies and prizes were shared between Amna Ali Qayum and Shimza Durab while the boys U-14 doubles trophies and prizes were also shared between Haider Ali Rizwan/Husnain Ali Rizwan and Ahtesham Humayun/Hamza Roman.
The boys U-14 title was clinched by Haider Ali Rizwan (LGS Paragon) who outpaced Ahtesham Humayun with a score of 4-0, 4-2. Amna Ali Qayum of Islamabad grabbed the girls U-14 title by thrashing Labika Durab 4-0, 4-0. The boys/girls U-12 title was claimed by Hamza Roman, who defeated Omer Jawad 4-1, 4-1.
The boys/girls U-12 doubles trophies and prizes were shared between the pairs of Haniya Minhas/Abubakar Talha and Nabeel Ali Qayum/Abdur Rahman. The boys/girls U-10 title was won by Shayan Afridi of Peshawar, who after a tough fight broke the winning streak of Abdur Rahman of Islamabad by winning the final 5-4, 5-4.
SA Gardens Ahmad Kardar graced the finals as chief guest and distributed prizes among the winners. Other notables present on the occasion were Aamir Malik, PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), tennis players and their families.
Top tennis players exhibit their prowess in SA Gardens exhibition matches
