LAHORE – All the top four seeded players moved into the next round of the Atlas Honda Cup in men’s singles here on Thursday. They eased past their rivals in their quarter-final matches to reach the semi-finals.
In first match, Pakistan No. 1 Aqeel Khan beat Abid Mushtaque 6-1, 6-2. The second seeded Jalil Khan beat Imran shoukat 6-4, 6-3, while third seed Yasir Khan beat Waqas Malik 6-3 ,7-6(4). Shehzad Khan beat Heera Ashiq 6-3,7-6 (3) in the last quarter-final.
Meanwhile, quarter-finals were also played in the U18 boys’ singles category, with M. Mudasir beating Arham Attique 6-4,6-4, Ahmed Ch defeating Zohair Raza 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5, and Usman Rafique victorious over Omer Sheikh. In the U14 boys’ singles category semi-final matches, M. Muddasir beat M. Azhar 6-1, 6-1 while Zaid Mujahid defeated M. Muzamil 6-1, 6-3. In women’s singles category, Ushna Sohail beat Shehla Nazir 6-0,6-1, Sara Mansoor beat Mehk Khokhar 6-3,6-3, and Saba Aziz defeated Rida Khalid 6-3, 6-3. The men’s doubles category was again dominated by the three Khan brothers from Karachi and fourth seed of the tournament, Shehzad Khan from Faisalabad. Aqeel Khan paired with brother Jalil Khan for the tournament, and defeated Waqas Malik and Nomi Qamar 6-4, 6-4. Their brother Yasir Khan, with his partner Shehzad Khan beat Usman Ijaz and Imran Shoukat 6-4, 6-3. In veteran doubles (over 60) category, Rao Akbar Latif and Imtaiz Ahmed beat Ali Tahir Zaidi and Malik Qayum 6-0, 6-3, while Wadood Bari and Akram Kahloon beat Ch Khalid and Asghar Wattu 6-4, 6-2 to qualify for the semi-finals.
Today’s Fixtures: Men’s singles semi-final matches will be played at 2.30pm. Aqeel Khan will play against younger brother Yasir Khan, whereas Shehzad Khan will play the second semi-final against Jalil Khan. Women’s singles semi-final matches will be played at 3.30pm, U18 boys’ singles semi-finals will be played at 10am, while U14 boys’ singles final will be held at 3.30 pm.
