Punjab Tennis: Noor, Shimza enter ladies singles final

LAHORE: Noor Malik of ZTBL and Shimza Durab reached ladies singles final of the Lt Gen Farrukh Khan Memorial Punjab Open Tennis Championship 2019 after registering victories in the semifinals played here PLTA courts on Tuesday.

In first ladies singles, Noor Malik (ZTBL) outclassed Mariam Mirza by 6-0, 6-0. Noor was in sublime form and not only displayed quality squash but also didn’t allow her opponent a chance to score even a single points, thus registered a straight sets victory and also booked berth in the final, where she will face Shimza Durab, who outplayed Rahat Javed in the semifinal.

In the men’s singles semifinals, Hadi Hussain and Mian Bilal notched up easy wins and booker berths in the final. Hadi Hussain was up against Ahmad Waqas in the first semifinal and overpowered his opponent by 6-4, 6-2. In the second semifinal, Mian Bilal outsmarted Zeeshan Ashraf by 6-3, 6-2 to set final clash against Hadi.

In senior 35 plus doubles, arch-rivals pairs of Talha Waheed/Usama Waheed and Ashar Ali Khan and Fayyaz Khan set final date after defeating their respective opponents. In the first semifinal, Waheed brothers, Talha and Usama, played tremendous tennis against Yousaf/Nauman and outpaced by 6-4, 6-3 while the second semifinal saw Ashar/Fayyaz, the title winners of the last tournament, struggled hard to overcome spirited pair of Mehboob Waheed and Adeel with the score of 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 to make way to the finals.

In u-18 semifinals, Ifham Rana beat Nalain Abbas 6-4, 6-4 while Mohammad Said beat Sameer Ahmad 6-2, 6-2 to qualify for the final. In u-16 semifinals, Hassan Ali beat Nalain Abbas 6-4, 6-3 while Faizan Fayyaz outlasted Zain Chaudhry 6-2, 6-1 to breeze into the final. In u-14, Hassan Ali beat Shaeel Durab 6-4, 6-2 while in u-12, Husnain Ali Rizwan beat Aizad Khalil 8-2 and Asad beat Abu Bakar Talha 8-1. In u-10 semifinals, Hamza Ali Rizwan beat Ameer Mazari 8-2 while Abu Bakar Talha (Wapda) outclassed Ismail Aftab 8-0 to squeeze into the final.

On Wednesday Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Latif Mughal will grace the concluding ceremony as the chief guest along with Pakistan’s tennis star Aisamul Haq. PLTA chairman Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, will also be present at the closing ceremony.