Kim, Noguchi make it to Kulsum Tennis semis

ISLAMABAD: Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor) and Rio Noguchi (Jpn) were well on course for yet another show down as Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan ITF Futures (F-II) Tennis Tournament reached semis stage at the PTF Complex Thursday.

Top seed Cheong-Eui Kim who won the first Futures at the same venue last week beat Alexis Canter (Gbr) in straight sets 7-6(5) 6-2.Second seed Rio Noguchi (Jpn) was also seen in ruthless form as he defeated Hamidreza Nadaf (Iri) [7] 6-3, 6-2.

Pakistan pair of Abid Ali Akbar and Shamael Chaudhry (Gbr) overwhelmed Joe Cooper (Gbr)/Matt Seeberger (USA) 6-2, 6-4 to make it to the semi-finals of doubles event.

Meanwhile, an exhibition match (men’s doubles) between Asiam-ul- Haq Qureshi/Aqeel Khan and Abid Ali Akbar/Shamel Chudhary was also played at the centre court.

Reults: Men’s single: Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor) [1] bt Alexis Canter (Gbr) [6] 7-6(5), 6-2; Sora Fukuda (Jpn) [3] bt Darko Jandric (Srb) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Kai Wehnelt (Ger) beat Lorenzo Bocchi (Ita) 6-1, 6-2; Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Hamidreza Nadaf (Iri) 6-3, 6-2.

Men’s doubles category (quarterfinal): Anton Chekhov (Rus)/Kai Wehnelt (Ger) bt M Abid (Pak)/M Wagas Malik (Can) 6-2, 6-4; Sora Fukuda (Jpn/Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Dmitry Myagkov (Rus)/Saida’lo Saidkarimov (Uzb) 6-3, 6-4; Darko Jandric (Srb)/Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor) bt Ahmed Choudhary (Pak)/Niklas Johansson (Swe) 6-3, 6-2; Abid Ali Khan Akbar (Pak)/Shamael Chaudhry (Gbr) bt Joe Cooper (Gbr)/Matt Seeberger (Usa) 6-2,6-4.

Meanwhile, Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan National Ranking Tennis Tournament continued at the PTF Complex with Sara Mansoor and Sarah Mehboob making it to semi-finals of ladies event with easy wins.

Results: Boys Singles U-18 (quarterfinals): M.Shoaib bt Osama Khan 6-1, 6-0; Musa Ch bt Hasam Khan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2; Sami Zeb bt Ahmed Asjad 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Subhan Bin Salik bt Rayan Jawad 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Boys singles under-14 (quarterfinals): Kashan Umar bt Hamza Roman 6-4, 6-0; Uzair Khan bt Huzaima Abdul Rehman 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Sami Zeb bt M.Huzaifa Khan 6-1, 6-0; Abdul Hanan bt Talha Khan 6-0, 6-4

Ladies singles (quarterfinals): Shimza Naz bt Khunsha Baber 6-3, 7-5; Sara Mansoor bt Hania Navid 6-2, 6-2; Ushna Suhail bt Meheq Khokhar 6-2, 6-2; Sarah Mahboob bt Sheeza Sajid 6-0, 6-0.