Shoaib edges Aqeel to reach BB Tennis final

ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Shoaib held on to his nerves, overcoming ageing hero Aqeel Khan’s late onslaughts to earn a place in the men’s singles final of the Benazir Bhutto National Ranking Tennis at the Islamabad Complex courts Saturday.

Yet another cracker of a match between the two saw Shoaib beating Aqeel 6-4, 6-7 (4) and 6-4 to set a title match against Muzammil Murtaza who showed no mercy in beating Yousaf Khalil 6-1, 6-2 in the first semi-final.

In an eagerly awaited semi-finals, Aqeel saved two match points in the second set to take the semi-finals into the third. Just last week Shoaib had upset Aqeel on hard courts to win the Federal Cup Tennis. The youngster continued the same consistent approach against Aqeel, engaging him in long rallies, emerging winner at the end. Shoaib had every answer to Aqeel’s attacking game, managing to break Pakistan No 1 at the outset. Aqeel though broke back in the first set, he could not manage to stop Shoaib from taking the first set, courtesy some fine consistent baseline game.

The second set saw Shoaib serving for the match at 5-4 when Aqeel saved two match points and went on to beat his opponent on a tie-break. Aqeel’s aggressive approach paid dividends as he managed to take the semifinal into the deciding set.

Shoaib was hardly seen missing a shot in the third which saw him managing two breaks against Aqeel’s one.

The marathon encounter that lasted for almost three and a half hours ultimately saw Shoaib coming out the winner, unleashing an array of exciting down-the-line shots to unsettle Aqeel.

“I am delighted that I have come out the winner against a player of the stature of Aqeel. In the Federal Cup I defeated him on hard court. Here I managed it on clay. I have my weak points which I will try to remove in the next match,” he added.

Shoaib now faces in-form Muzammil Murtaza in the final on Sunday (today). Muzammil was in superb form as he looked dominant throughout his easy win against Yousaf Khalil.

Both men and women singles will be played on Sunday.

Also on cards for Sunday are boys under-18 final, boys under-14 final, boys under-12 final.

Results (men’s single semis): Mohammad Shoaib bt Aqeel Khan 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4; Muzammil Murtaza bt Yousaf Khalil 6-1, 6-2

Men’s doubles final: Aqeel Khan/Mohammad Abid bt Heera Ashiq/Yousaf Khalil 6-3, 6-0

Boys under-18 semis: Hamid Israr bt Huzaifa Khan 6-2, 7-6(4), Abdullah Adnan bt Talha Khan 6-4, 6-2

Girls under-18 singles semis: Amna Ali Qayum bt Saher Aleem 6-1, 6-1; Sheeza Sajid bt Sara Pervaiz 6-0, 6-0

Boys under-14 semis: Mohammad Sallar bt Asad Zaman 2-4, 4-2, 4-2; Ibrahim Sharif bt Ali Zain 4-2, 4-1

Girls under-14 final: Amna Ali Qayum bt Zunaisha Noor 4-5(3), 4-1, 5-3.

B/G under-12 semis: Hamza Roman bt Samer Zaman 4-2, 4-1; Abdul Basit bt Haziq Aasim 1-4, 4-1, 5-3

B/G under-10 final: Shayan Afridi bt Abdul Wasay 4-0, 4-0.