LAHORE – Top Pakistan tennis player Aqeel Khan and phenomenal M Abid Mushtaq breezed into the men’s singles finals of the 5th Shehryar Malik Memorial National Grass Court Tennis Championship 2021 after winning their respective semifinals played here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah on Friday.
PLTA Secretary General Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) has revealed that former Pakistan captain and legendary cricketer Zaheer Abbas will grace the concluding ceremony as chief guest. “The enthralling tennis matches are being played during the national grass court tennis event and the players, their families and tennis enthusiasts are enjoying quality tennis being played here. The finals will be played today (Saturday).
In the first men’s singles semifinal, Aqeel Khan was up against young M Shoaib, who gave tough time to the top seed and fought till the end before losing the crucial match by 7-5, 6-4. M Abid overwhelmed Mudassar Murtaza, who earlier defeated his brother Muzammil Murtaza, with a score of 6-3, 6-3 to set the final clash against Aqeel Khan.
In the ladies singles semifinals, Sarah Mehboob had to struggle hard to beat spirited Mehak Khokhar by 7-6(4), 6-4. Mehak matched fire-with-fire till the end, but Sarah utilized her vast experience and expertise to win the crucial match to secure the final spot, where she will face young Noor Malik (Wapda), who defeated promising Zahra Suleman 6-2, 6-2.
In the men’s doubles final, Muzamil Murtaza/Mudassar Murtaza beat M Abid/Waqas Malik 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the title. In the ladies doubles final, Mariyam/Zahra played tremendous tennis against Sarah/Noor and outpaced them by 6-3, 6-2 to claim the title.
Rashid Malik of ZTBL reached the finals of 50 plus and 40 plus. In the seniors 50 plus semifinals, Rashid Malik /Fayyaz Khan beat Dr Arif/Kamran 6-1, 6-1 while in the seniors 40 plus semifinals, Rashid Malik/Aqeel Khan got a walk over against Asher Khan/Zark. In seniors 60 plus doubles, Rai Zahid/Inamul Haq beat Brig Ghazanfer/M Babar 6-2, 6-2
In the boys U-18 semifinals, Semi Zeb beat Raza Ghous 6-1, 7-6(2) while Abdullah Adnan beat Bilal Asim 6-2, 6-4. In the U-16 semifinals, Bilal Asim beat Ahtesham Humayun 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the U-12 semifinals, Hamza Ali Rizwan (LGS Paragon) beat Zohaib Afzal Malik 5-3, 4-1 while Omer Jawad beat Abdul Basit 4-0, 4-2.
