Pakistani No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan and Muhammad Shoaib emerged joint winners as the rain washed out the men’s singles final of All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament 2023 at DeSOM Club.
Both Aqeel Khan and M Shoaib were committed to do well in the final to win the coveted trophy but due to continuous rain and wet courts, they were declared the joint winners of the prestigious event.
Wapda’s Abubakar Talha (F.G School Lahore Cantt) and Ahtesham Humayun (Crescent School) were also named the joint winners of the U-16 category.
Renowned ex-tennis player and coach Rashid Malik distributed the prizes and awards.
Semi-finals| Aqeel & Shoaib Into Finals
Pakistan No 1 tennis players Aqeel Khan will take on Muhammad Shoaib in the Men’s singles final of the All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament 2023, to be played at DeSOM Club on Friday, 17th March.
Men’s Semi-final 1
No 1 Aqeel Khan beat Mudassar Murtaza 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Aqeel started the match well and put Mudassar under pressure to win the first set 6-2. Mudassar bounced back in the second set and took it by 7-5. Aqeel once again showed his class and comfortably won the third set 6-1 and also earned a place in the final.
Men’s Semi-final 2
Muhammad Shoaib played well against Heera Ashiq and won the encounter by 6-4, 6-3. Shoaib though faced tough resistance in the first set, yet he won it by 6-4 while he played comparatively better tennis in the second set, taking it 6-3 to set a title clash with Aqeel Khan.
Boys U-16 semi-finals
Rising tennis star Wapda’s Abu Bakar Talha defeated spirited Hamza Roman by 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. The second semifinal of the U-16 category was won by another talented player Ahtesham Humayun, who edged past Haider Ali Rizwan 7-6, 2-6, 6-2. All the finals will be played on Friday at the DeSOM Club.
Day 3 | Rizwan Brothers; Abubakar + Others In Semi-finals
Rizwan brothers – Hussnain Ali Rizwan and Haider Ali Rizwan – Abubakar Talha and Ahtesham Humayun qualified for the semifinals of the All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament here at DeSOM Club on Wednesday.
Boys U-16 quarterfinals
Hussnain Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Roman 6-0, 6-4 while Haider Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Ali Rizwan 6-2, 6-3. In other quarterfinals, Abubakar Talha beat M Salaar 6-4, 6-4 while Ahtesham Humayun beat M Talha Khan 6-1, 6-1.
It is worth mentioning here that Hussnain Ali Rizwan, who is a former Asian U-14 No 2 ranked player and only Pakistani, selected in the ITF/ATF Grand Slam Player Development Program to Europe, where he had learned the modern techniques from the top ITF coaches alongside the world’s high ranked players.
Same is the case with his elder brother, Haider Ali Rizwan, who was Asian U-16 ranked 1, and was doing well at ATF level.
Men’s singles quarterfinals
Pakistan No 1 player Aqeel Khan beat talented Abdullah Adnan 6-3, 6-0 while Muhammad Shoaib Khan beat Ahmad Nael Qureshi 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, Mudassar Murtaza beat Sami Zeb Khan 6-1, 7-6 and Yousaf Khalil beat Heera Ashiq 7-5, 7-5.
Day 2 | Top Players Including Aqeel & Shoaib Reach Quarterfinals
Pakistan No 1 Aqeel Khan and Muhammad Shoaib were among the other top players, who advanced to the Men’s singles quarterfinals of the All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament at the DeSOM Club.
Men’s single pre-quarterfinals
Aqeel Khan beat Shehzad Khan 6-4, 6-4, M Shoaib Khan beat M Huzaifa Khan 6-2, 6-0, Mudassar Murtaza beat Ahmad Babar 6-3, 6-3, Yousaf Khalil beat Ahtesham Humayun 6-1, 6-2, Heera Ashiq beat M Salaar 6-3, 6-2, Ahmad Nael Qureshi beat Imran Bhatti 6-3, 6-3, Semi Zeb Khan beat Hamid Israr 3-3(rtd), Abdullah Adnan beat Nalain Abbas 6-2, 6-2.
Boys U-16 pre-quarterfinals
M. Salaar beat Hafiz 6-0, 6-0, Husnain Ali Rizwan beat Abdullah Sajjad 6-1, 6-0, Hamza Roman beat Hanzla Anwar 6-0, 6-0, M Talha Khan beat Yousaf Manoo 6-1, 6-0, Hamza Ali Rizwan beat Arman Kamran 6-2, 6-1, Haider Ali Rizwan beat Aalay Husnain 6-2, 6-0, Ahtesham Humayun beat Abubakar Khalil 6-2, 6-0, Abubakar Talha beat Asad Zaman 6-1, 6-4.
Day 1 | 30 Matches Decided; Seeds Advance To Round 2
The All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament 2023 commenced at the DeSOM, Lahore.
A total of 30 matches were played on the first day of the championship. All the top players advanced to the second round with comfortable victories and a high-standard of tennis was witnessed during some of the matches.
Men’s singles 1st round
Pakistan No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan beat Ahtesham Arif 6-1, 6-1, Davis Cupper Shehzad Khan beat Rai Asim Zafar 6-1, 6-2, Nalain Abbas beat Col Atif 6-2, 6-3, Mudassar Murtaza beat Mahatir Muhammad 6-2, 6-0, Ahmad Babar beat M Talha Khan 6-0, 6-0, Hamid Israr beat Sikandar Hayat 6-3, 6-3, Semi Zeb Khan beat Fayyaz Khan 6-2, 6-3, Heera Ashiq beat Saqib Hayat 6-0, 6-3, M Salaar beat Faizan Fayyaz 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, Yousaf Khalil beat Kamran Khan 6-1, 6-1, Ahmad Nael Qureshi beat Asadullah 6-2, 6-2, Imran Bhatti beat Abdul Hanan Khan 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and M Shoaib beat Bilal Asim 6-4, 6-1.
Boys U-16 1st round
Hafiz Hussain beat Hafiz Hassan 6-4, 4-6, 12-10, Yousaf Manoo beat M Hameed 6-1, 6-3, Abubakar Khalil beat Mustafa Zaidi 6-2, 6-2, Hamza Ali Rizwan beat Ismail Ahmad 6-2, 6-3 and Aalay Husnain beat Moavia Butt 0-6, 7-5, 12-10.
