LAHORE: National singles and junior champion Samir Iftikhar, Heera Ashiq, former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik and junior Davis cupper Faizan Khurrum reached the semi-finals of the Servis Cup Tennis Tournament here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Courts on Monday.
All the top seeded players in the all the categories advanced to the semi-final stage of the tournament. Heera, Samir, Mohammad Abid and Faizan also reached the last four of the under-18 category. Mehak Khokhar, Sara Mahboob, Annosha Aslam and Saba Aziz were also through to the semi-finals with easy wins over their respective rivals.
In the men’s singles, apart from Samir who had an extended battle in his opening set, all the other players won in straight sets. Faizan was given tough time by Ahmed Baber in the under-18 category. Faizan lost the first set and bounced back to win the next two and the match as well. Similarly, there was no difficulty for Mehak, Sara, Annosha and Saba to progress ahead. In the semi-finals, Samir will meet his first cousin and Junior Davis Cupper Faizan after he beat local boy Umar Babar. Veteran Rashid Malik upset number 2 seed Khurram Nazir in the other quarter-finals. Later pairing with Faizan, Smair also reached the men’s doubles finals.
Result: Men’s singles quarter-finals: Samir Iftikhar beat Omer Baber 7-5, 6-4, Heera Ashiq beat M. Abid 6-3, 6-1, Rashid Malik beat Khurram Nazir 6-1, 6-4, Faizan Khurram beat Asad Abdul Sakoor 6-3, 6-0. Boys U-18 quarter-final: Heera Ashiq beat Sajid Ali 6-1, 6-1, Samir Iftikhar beat Ali Shazaib 6-1, 6-1, M. Abid beat Usman Rafiq 6-1,6-4, Faizan Khurram beat Ahmad baber 3-6, 6-2 6-4. Ladies singles quarter-finals: Mehak Khokhar beat Rukhsana Fazal 6-1, 6-0, Sara Mehboob beat Nomi Mansoor 6-0, 6-0, Annosha Aslam beat Rida Khalid 6-1, 6-0, Saba Aziz beat Natasha Shahid 6-1, 6-0. Boys U-12 quarter-final: Hafiz Arbab Ali beat Humble 6-4.
