LAHORE: Veteran tennis player Rashid Malik staged a big upset when he beat former national champion Heera Ashiq in the nerve-wrecking semi-final of the Servis Cup Tennis Tournament here at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Courts on Tuesday. The 49-year old former Davis Cupper will now face upcoming star Samir Iftikhar in the men’s singles final today (Wednesday).
The veteran star showed he still has the power to upstage the best of the players in business with his experience and could also surprise Samir in the final. Given the form of Malik and the flair and class of junior champion Samir, it looks set for an exciting final encounter. Pakistan’s tennis ace Asiamul Haq Qureshi will be the chief guest of the final and would surely be a source of inspiration for the junior players. Samir in his singles match beat his doubles partner and first cousin Faizan Khurrum in straight sets.
But Samir lost his under-18 match to Heera. Samir and Heera played probably the toughest match of their career in which the latter survived the onslaught of Samir. Heera won the opening tie-break set but Samir bounced back with guts. Samir after some errors and miscalculation allowed Heera room to break his serve and losing the third set. Faizan, who lost to Samir, had an easy-sailing into the final of the boy’s Under-18 finals. Sara Mahboob will lock horns with Saba Aziz in the ladies final. Sara beat Mehak Khokhar and Saba defeated Annosha Aslam in their semi-finals to go for the title.
Zaid Mujahid will face Arham Atif Khan in the under-14 final while Abdal Haider moved to the final to play Hafiz Arbab Ali. RESULTS: Men’s single semi-final: Samir Iftikhar beat Faizan Khurram 6-1, 6-4, Rashid Malik beat Heera Ashiq 7-6, 6-1. Boys U-18 semi-final: Heera Ashiq beat Samir Iftikhar 7-6, 6-3, 7-5, Faizan Khurram beat M.Abid 6-3, 6-3. Ladies single semi-final: Sarah Mehboob beat Mehak Khokhar 6-1, 6-1, Saba Aziz beat Annosha Aslam 6-0, 6-0. Boys U-10 semi final: Sabzada M Ali beat Humbal 6-3, Hissan Ali beat M.Saeed 6-0. Boys U-12 semi-final: Abdal Haider beat Daniyal Waheed 6-2, 6-2. Boys U-14 semi-final: Zaid MUjahid beat Abdal Haider 6-1, 6-0, Arham Atiq Khan beat Hussain Manzoor 6-0, 6-1.
