LAHORE: Pakistan junior tennis players Samir Iftikhar and Faizan Khurram upstaged the second seed pair and qualified for the Servis Punjab Open Tennis Championship here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah courts on Sunday. Local tennis fans enjoyed the spectacular doubles match as cousins and Junior Davis Cuppers Samir and Faizan upset Heera Ashiq and Waqas Malik 6-4, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals.
The pair, who are also cousins of Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq and grandsons of late Indo-Pak legend Khawaja Iftikhar, displayed remarkable range of shots and broke Heera and Waqas in the 7th game with magnificent return of serves to lead 5-4. Samir held his game to win first set at 6-4. Heera and partner fought back and broke Faizan in the seven game to lead 5-3 but Samir and Faizan came back in the game when they broke their rivals’ serve and neutralised the score at 5-all. They broke Waqas’ serve to lead 6-5 and Samir served out the match with two timely aces. They will now meet Mohammad Abid and partner in the semi-finals. The men’s quarter-finals will be played today.
RESULT: Men’s single pre-quarter: Heera Ashiq beat Saad Mubarik 6-1, Sajid Ali beat Hassan Tariq 6-1, Ali Shazaib beat Hashir Farooq 6-2, Samir Iftikhar beat Imad Amir 6-0, M Abid beat Arham Atiq Khan 6-0, Faizan Khurram beat Nabeel Ahmad 6-0. Boy’s U-12 first round: Hafiz Arbab Ali beat M Mouz Ali 6-0, Ahsm Omer beat Sabzada M Ali 6-3, Naushair Tariq beat Hissan Ali 6-1, Moiz beat Shazaib Amin 6-0, Abdal Haider beat Sarfraz Khurram 6-0.
Men’s double quarter finals: Tanvir-Munir Ashiq beat Hassan Riaz-Ali Shazaib 6-1, 6-1, M Abid-Usman Rafiq beat Rashid Malik Khurram Nazir 6-1 (RTD). Boys U-10 first round: Sabzada M Ali beat Sarafarz Khurram 6-2, M .Saeed beat Hussain Aslam 6-2, Ahsan beat Mustafa 6-0.
