35th Federal Cup Tennis Championships 2022: Day 4 | Seeded Aqeel; Sarah; Shoaib Into Single’s Finals

The 35^th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships moved into the finals phase after arduous and effortful tennis playing activity at PTF-SDA Tennis Complex, Islamabad.

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Top seed Aqeel Khan and 2^nd seed Muhammad Shoaib will vie for the top honour in the Men’s Singles final of 35^th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships, after winning their respective semifinals against Muzammil Murtaza 2-1 and Mudassar Murtaza 2-0. The final will be played on Saturday, 10th December at 2:00 PM.

Semi-final 1

Top seed Aqeel Khan was in fine touch but faced tough resistance from Muzammil Murtaza. In this match Aqeel and Muzammil played high-caliber and remarkable tennis and excellent forehand and backhand drives were witnessed. In the first set Muzammil ground strokes were prefect in rhythm and he was flawless from the net and out played Aqeel Khan won the first set at 6-4. In the 2^nd set Aqeel Khan bounced back aggressively and gained his strength according to experience player and level the match 1-1 set all. In the final set Aqeel Khan kept the same pressure and won set and match at score of 6-3 by breaking 2^nd game of Muzammil and qualified for the final of Men’s Singles. The match lasted 2 hrs 16 minutes.

Semi-final 2

Twenty-one years old Muhammad Shoaib outclassed the 6^th seed Mudassar Murtaza by playing excellent game of tennis in straight set win 6-4 6-2.

Junior 18&Under category

The best encounter of the day was played between Sami Zeb Khan and M. Talha Khan in the Junior 18&Under category. 3^rd seed Sami Zeb struggled hard to win his match against talented upcoming youngster M. Talha of Islamabad. In the first set, Talha builds up the winning lead 5-1 by breaking the 4^th and 6^th games of Sami Zeb. At this stage, Sami Zeb changed the pace of game and reduced the winning lead of Talha by breaking the 9^th game, and by holding the 10^th game, the score reached at  5-5 games all. The set was decided in the tie break, which both the players exhibited excellent game of tennis, Sami Zeb garbed the tie-break at 14-12. The second set was again marked in the same style and both the players demonstrated high standard of game of tennis which lasted in favour of M.Talha Khan and the match leveled at 1-1 set all. In the final set Sami Zeb again changed the pace and strategy of the game plan, and managed to break the 8^th game of Talha Khan to build up the winning lead 5-3 and kept the same pressure in the 9^th game by hitting some excellent cross-court shots and won the match and set at 6-3, and qualified for the Final. The match lasted 2 hrs 30 minutes.

In the second semi-final of 18&Under category, the top seed Bilal Asim struggled hard to win his encounter against 5^th seed Ahmad Nael Qureshi. Both the players displayed high caliber and remarkable tennis. In the first when set score reached 5-5 games all, Bilal managed to break 11^th game of Qureshi to build up the lead 6-5 and won the 1^st set at 7-5 by holding his serve. In the 2^nd set Qureshi changed the pace and played aggressively to win the set comfortably at 6-1, and leveled the match 1-1 set all. In the final set, both the players played excellent tennis, but Bilal Asim by breaking the 2^nd and 4^th games of Qureshi, build-up a lead 5-2, and finished the match by holding the 9^th game at 6-3 and qualified for the final of Junior 18&Under.   

Following are the Results:

Men’s Singles (Semi Finals)

Aqeel Khan beat Muzammil Murtaza 4-6 6-4 6-3; Muhammad Shoaib beat Mudassar Murtaza 6-4 6-2

Ladies Singles (Semi Finals)

Sarah Mahboob beat Amna Qayyum 6-0 6-0; Noor Malik Vs Esha Jawad (in progress)

Men’s Doubles Semi Finals

Muzammil Murtaza / Mudassar Murtaza beat Muhammad Shoaib / Barkatullah 1-6 6-3 10-2

Heera Ashiq / Yousaf Khalil beat M.Talha Khan / M.Huzaifa Khan 6-4 6-1

Junior 18&Under Singles (Main Draw Semi Finals)

Bilal Asim beat Ahmed Nael Qureshi 7-5 1-6 6-3: Sami Zeb Khan beat Muhammad Talha Khan 7-6(14), 6-7(5), 6-3

Boys & Girls 12&Under Singles (Semi Finals)

Abdur Rehman beat Muhammad Shakib 4-1, 4-2: Haziq Arejo beat Hajra Suhail 4-1 4-1.

Day 3 | Most Main Seeds Into Semi-finals

The 35^th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships continued with quarter -finals held in a very stimulated atmosphere at the hard courts of PTF-SDA Tennis Complex, Islamabad.

The top seed Aqeel Khan faced little resistance from 8^th Seed Barkatullah. In the opening set, Aqeel served and returned well to finish the set comfortably at 6-1. In the second set which was marked with aces and long rallies and the score went up to 5-5 all as both players held their respective serves, Aqeel broke the eleventh game of Barkat by hitting some winners down the line forced out Barkatullah in 7-5.

4^th seed Muzammil Murtaza conveniently won his encounter against upcoming proficient Abdullah Adnan 6-2, 6-3. In his pursuit of victory he added his foot speed and top spin making him a force to be reckoned with.

6^th Seed Mudassar Murtaza qualified for the semi final when 3^rd seed Muhammad Abid retired hurt due to injury at 5-0 in the first set.

In another Men’s Singles quarter final Muhammad Shoaib toppled Yousaf Khalil in a one-sided affair 6-2, 6-1.  Shoaib served and returned well easing his way to move into the semi-final stage.

The semi-finals will be batted out between Aqeel Khan Vs Muzammil Murtaza and Muhammad Shoaib Vs Mudassar Murtaza on Friday 10^th December 2021.

In the Junior 18&Under category 6^th Seed Muhammad Talha Khan, the upcoming proficient caused a major upset during the course of his quarter-final encounter with 2^nd Seed Mahatir Muhammad Khan. In pursuit of his victory, he added his foot speed and topspin to make him a force to be reckoned with. M. Talha Khan managed to oust the 2^nd seed 6-2, 6-2.

The top seed Bilal Asim struggled hard to win his match against 7^th Seed M.Huzaifa Khan. In the opening set, Bilal served and returned well to finish the set at 6-4. In the second set both the players showed quality tennis and long rallies ultimately finished in favour of Bilal in the tie-break 7-6(6).

The following are the results:

Men’s Singles (Quarter Finals)

Aqeel Khan bt Barkatullah 6-1, 7-5: Muzammil Murtaza bt Abdullah Adnan 6-2, 6-3: Mudassar Murtaza bt Muhammad Abid 5-0 (Retd.): Muhammad Shoaib bt Yousaf Khalil 6-2, 6-3.

Ladies Singles (Quarter Finals)

Sarah Mahboob w/o Amara Qadir, Esha Jawad w/o Sheeza Sajid, Amna Qayyum w/o Mehaq Khokar, Noor Malik bt Soha Ali 6-4, 6-4.

Men’s Doubles Quarter Finals

Muhammad Shoaib / Barkatullah bt Sami Zeb Khan / Abdullah Adnan 6-2, 7-6(3)

Muzammil Murtaza / Mudassar Murtaza bt Bilal Asim / Mahatir Muhammad Khan 7-5, 6-4

M.Talha Khan / M.Huzaifa Khan bt Parbat Kumar / Baqar Ali 7-6(2), 6-2

Heera Ashiq / Yousaf Khalil w/o Hamid Israr / Ahmed Naeel Qureshi

Junior 18&Under Singles (Main Draw Quarterfinals)

Bilal Asim bt M.Huzaifa Khan 6-4, 7-6(6): Ahmed Nael Qureshi bt Hamid Israr 2-4(retd.): Sami Zeb Khan bt Muhammad Salar 6-2, 7-5: M.Talha Khan bt Mahatir Muhammad 6-2, 6-2.

Boys & Girls 12&Under Singles (Main Draw)

Abdur Rehman bt Muhammad Hassan Usmani 4-1, 3-5, 4-2: Ahmed Khan bt Muhammad Shakib 5-3, 4-2: Haziq Arejo bt M.Junaid Khan 4-0, 4-0: Hajra Suhail bt Ihsanullah Kabir 5-3, 5-3.

Day 2 | Pre QF Matches Played

Aqeel Khan, Barkatullah, Abdullah Adnan, Yousaf Khalil, Muzammil Murtaza, Muhammad Shoaib, Mudassar Murtaza and Muhammad Abid moved into the quarterfinals by winning their respective matches at the 35^th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships at S. Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex, Garden Avenue, Islamabad.  Quarterfinals of Men’s Singles and Ladies Singles will start at 10 am on Thursday, 8th December followed by Doubles matches.

Unseeded Abdullah Adnan caused the major upset of the day when he defeated experienced 7^th seed Heera Ashiq in a well contested straight-set match 7-6(5) 6-4. Both the players exhibited good game of tennis, but in the 8^th game Heera Ashiq struggled hard to save the game after 5 deuces. The set was decided in a tie-break which was won by Abdullah Adnan 7-4. In the second set both the players again displayed good tennis and reached 4-4 all. In the crucial 9th game, Heera hit two double faults and lost the game. In the 10^th game Abdullah played very well and won the 2^nd set 6-4 and qualified for the quarter-final.  In the second quarter-final, he will face 3^rd seed Muzammil Murtaza tomorrow.

Top seed Aqeel Khan was in excellent form and eliminated Ahmed Nael Qureshi in a straight match 6-3 6-0. 2^nd seed Muhammad Soahib also comfortably won his encounter against Asadullah Khan 6-2 6-2; Muhammad Abid did not allow his opponent in the court and brushed off Baqar Ali in straight sets 6-1 6-0.  Muzammil Murtaza and Mudassar Murtaza were also too good to win their matches in straight sets.   

Following are the results:

Men’s Singles (Main Draw Pre Quarterfinals)

Aqeel Khan beat Ahmed Nael Qureshi 6-3 6-0; Barkatullah beat M.Talha Khan 6-3 6-2; Abdullah Adnanbeat Heera Ashiq 7-6(5) 6-4; Yousaf Khalil beat M.Huzaifa Khan 6-3 6-1; Muzammil Murtaza beat S.Nofil Kaleem 6-1 6-1; Mudassir Murtaza beat M.Waqas Malik 6-2 6-1; Muhammad Abid beat Baqar Ali 6-1 6-0; Muhammad Shoaib beat Asadullah Khan 6-2 6-2

Junior 18&Under Singles (Main Draw Pre-Quarterfinals)

Bilal Asim beat Talha Khan 6-0 6-0; Sami Zeb Khan w/o Ibrahim Yousaf; M.Talha Khan beat M.Hamza Aasim 6-4 6-2; Muhammad Salar beat Arslan Khan 6-0 6-0; Mahatir Muhammad beat Shahsawar Khan 6-1 3-6 6-0; Hamid Israr beat Abdul Hanan Khan 6-2 7-5; M.Huzaifa Khan beat Hamza Rehman 6-0 6-1; Ahmed Nael Qureshi beat Uzair Khan 6-0 6-3.

Ladies Singles (Main Draw Pre Quarterfinals)

Amara Khan beat Madina Qadir 6-3 6-0; Esha Jawad beat Kianat Ali 6-0 6-0; Soha Ali beat Zainab Ali Naqvi 6-1 6-0.

Men’s Doubles (Main Draw Pre-Quarterfinals)

M. Huzaifa Khan / M.Talha Khan beat M.Waqas Malik / Asadullah Khan 7-5 2-6 10-7

Bilal Asim / Mahatir Muhammad beat Uzair Khan / Hasam Khan 6-2 6-0

Sami Zeb Khan / Abdullah Adnan beat Muhammad Salar / Major Suleman 6-1 6-2

Hamid Israr / Ahmed Nael Qureshi Vs Diasuke Unemi  / M.Hamza Aasim

Parbat Kumar / Baqar Ali w/o Shahzad Khan / Usman Ejaz

Boys & Girls 12&Under Singles (Main Draw)

Muhammad Hassan Usmani beat Uzair 4-0 4-0

Ahmed Khan beat Anas (Pes) 4-0 4-0;

Uzair Abbasi beat Changaz Leghari 4-0 4-0

Abdur Rehman w/o Uzair – PES

Haziq Arejo beat Eesa Fahad 4-0 4-2

Muhammad Shakib beat Behroze Wander Maimoom 4-0 4-0

M.Junaid Khan beat Aamir Masood Abbasi 4-0 4-0

Ihsanullah Kabir beat Moazzam Babar 4-0 4-0

Hajra Suhail beat Mahad Mehmood 4-0 4-0

Day & Round 1 | Seeded Players Advance

On the opening day, all the seeded players comfortably advanced to the next round without being put to the test by their adversaries in the first round of Men’s Singles of 35^th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships at S. Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex, Garden Avenue, Islamabad.  

The second round matches of Men’s Singles, Junior Singles as well as 1^st round of Men’s Doubles, Ladies Singles will be held on Wednesday 7^th December 2022.

35th Federal Cup Tennis Championships 2022: Qualifying Round Held

The first-round matches in Men’s Singles and Junior 18&Under went into action and exciting tennis as the established ones downcast and muted the less dexterous ones into submission.

The best encounter of the day was between upcoming youngsters Ahmed Nael Qureshi and Sami Zeb Khan, both from Islamabad.  Ahmed Nael Qureshi won the match in a well-contested three-set match. In the first set, Sami Zeb was leading 5-2 by breaking the 3^rd and 7^th games of Qureshi and grabbed the 1^st set by holding his own serve of the 8^th game. In the second set, Qureshi changed his game plan and played aggressively to take up the lead 5-1 by breaking 2^nd, 4^th, and 6^th games of Khan. At this point, Qureshi lost his 7^th game by hitting some unforced down the lines but in the 9^th game, Qureshi wrapped up the set at 6-3 and leveled the match 1-1 set all. In the final set, Qureshi again changed his pace of the game and build up the winning lead without conceding a single game by breaking 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th games of Khan. In the 2^nd round Qureshi will face top seed Aqeel Khan in the pre-quarterfinal tomorrow. 

31st Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis C’ships 2017: Day 1

Following are the results:

Men’s Singles (Main Draw 1^st Round)

Aqeel Khan beat Bilal Asim 6-1 7-5; Ahmed Nael Qureshi beat Sami Zeb Khan 2-6 6-3 6-0; M.Talha Khan beat Muhammad Azeem Khan 7-6(5) 6-1; Barkatullah beat M.Hamza Aasim 6-3 6-2; Muzammil Murtaza beat Hamid Israr 6-3 6-3; S.Nofil Kaleem beat Abdul Hanan Khan 6-2 6-4; Abdullah Adnan beat Shahzad Khan 2-6 7-5 (retd.); Heera Ashiq beat Major Suleman 6-1 6-1; Muadssar Murtaza beat Parbat Kumar 6-2 6-1;M. Waqas Malik beat Hasam Khan 6-3 2-6 7-6(7);  Baqar Ali beat Jibran-ul-Haq 6-4 6-2; Muhammad Abid beat Usman Ejaz Yousaf 6-3 6-1; Yousaf Khalil beat Mahatir Muhammad Khan 7-5 6-3; M.Huzaifa Khan beat Uzair Khan 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Asadullah Khan beat Daisuke Ubemi 6-3 7-6(5); Muhammad Shoaib beat Muhammad Salar 6-0 6-2.

Junior 18&Under Singles (Main Draw 1^st Round)

Bilal Asim beat Faisal Khalil 6-1 6-0; Talha Khan w/o Jabir Ali; Hamid Israr beat Saaim Shehzad 6-0 6-0; Abdul Hanan Khan beat Zaeem Ghafoor 6-0 6-0; Arslan Khan w/o Saif Ali Khan; Muhammad Salar w/o Abdul Basit; Ibrahim Nouman Yousaf w/o Nabeel Ali Qayyum; M.Talha Khan beat Rayan Ahmed Khan 6-1 6-0; M.Hamza Aasim w/o Hamza Roman Khan

34th Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships 2021: Day 1; 48 Qualifying Matches Played