Seeded players make progress in Federal Cup tennis

ISLAMABAD—Aqeel Khan started his campaign in a dazzling manner in the men’s singles as no major upset was witnessed in the 1st round of Askari Bank-sponsored 23rd Federal Cup Tennis Tournament at Islamabad Club clay courts on Tuesday.
In the Men’s Singles event, all the seeded players Aqeel Khan, Nomi Qamar, Asim, Shahzad Khan, Jalil Khan, Asim Shafik moved into the second round by beating their respective opponents in straight sets.
The best encounter of the day was played between Munir Ashiq and Yaseen Abbasi. Munir Ashiq lost the first set at 5-7 and came back into the match by taking the second set in the same fashion 7-5 and level the score 1 set all.
Munir Ashiq won the final set at 6-2 by playing attaching game. The match lasted 2 hrs 10 minutes. Both the players exhibit excellent game.
In the Boy’s U-17 Singles event Gulfraz Ahmed, Jibran-ul-Haq, Khursheed Abbasi, Fahad Ali, Yousaf Ajam, Yashir Khan moved into the 2nd round by eliminating their opponents in straight set match.
The best match in this category was played between Yousaf Ajam and Asif Muhamamd. Yousaf Ajam from Islamabad won the first set 6-3 by playing long rallies from the base line, but in the second set Asif Muhammad recovered and won the second set at 6-4 by breaking 7th game of Yousaf Ajam. The match was decided in the final set, which Yousaf Ajam won at 6-4 by breaking 12th game of Asif. The match lasted 2 hrs and 25 minutes.
The matches of Boy’s U-13 Singles event were not completed due to rain. The unfinished matches are scheduled to be played Wednesday at 2:30 pm. The draws for Ladies Singles, Girls U-17 Singles and Men’s Doubles were also made. According the Ladies Singles Draw Sarah Mahboob is seeded No.1 and Natisha Afridi seeded No.2 while in the Girls U-17 singles event again Sarah Mahboob was seeded No.1 and Sara Mansoor was placed No.2.
Following are the results: Men’s Singles 1st Round: (1)Aqeel Khan beat Ahmed Hammad 6-0 6-0, (2) Nomi Qamar beat Sadan-ul-Haq 6-2 6-0, (3) Munir Ashiq beat Yaseen Abbasi 7-5 7-5 6-2, (4) Shahzad Khan beat Ikram-ul-Haq 6-1 6-0, (5) Asim Shafik beat Rizwan Khan 6-2 6-1, (6)Omair Qayyum beat Heera Ashiq 6-2 6-1, (7) Jalil Khan beat Haidayatullah 6-0 6-2 Unfinished match: Yasir Khan leading 1 set to love against Nouman-ul-Haq.
Boy’s U-17 Singles 1st Round: (1) Fahad Ali beat Shahzaib Iftikhar 6-0 6-0, (2) Khursheed Abbasi beat Shaan Sardar 6-1 6-3 (3) Jibran-ul-Haq beat MHissan Iqbal 6-2 6-2, (4) Gulfraz Ahmed beat Hassan Riaz 6-0 6-0 (5) Yousaf Ajam beat Asif Mohammad 6-3 4-6 6-4, (6) Yashir Khan beat Taha Shakoh 6-0 6-2 (7) Omer Babar beat Zahid Ajam 6-1 6-1—Agencies