Muhammad Shoaib edges out Yousaf in Serena Hotels National Ranking Tennis Tournament quarters

Promising young player Muhammad Shoaib produced yet another stunning performance in the 5th Serena Hotels National Ranking Tennis Tournament 2020 by beating Yousaf Khali 2-1 in the men’s singles quarterfinals at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex, Islamabad.

Runner-up of 38 CAS Khyber cup 2019 Shoaib, and Yousaf matched fire-with-fire and fought till the end as the score was equal at 4-4 in the first set. Shoaib was trying very hard to break the serve of Yousaf, who remained firm and resolute and put tremendous pressure on his opponent, which helped him win the first set 6-4 in 32 minutes.

After losing the first set, Shoaib kept his composure and played well as his aggressive serves, passing shots, down the line winners and reading of the game were awesome. He broke the second and fourth game of Yousaf to take the second set 6-2 in 23 minutes. He continued to pile pressure on his opponent in the third set, where he first broke fourth and then sixth game of Yousaf to take the set 6-2 in 20 minutes and also won the encounter 2-1.

In another three-set battle, Heera Ashiq came from one-set down to beat spirited Asadullah 2-1. Heera was completely demolished in the first set, which Asadullah won comfortably by 6-0. But seasoned campaigner Heera bounced back in style to win the second set 6-1 and then the third 6-0 to win the encounter. In other quarterfinals, Shahzad Khan beat Israr Gul 6-3, 6-3; Mudassar Murtaza beat Waqas Malik 7-6(8), 6-1; M Abid beat Asad Siyyid 6-2, 6-3; Aqeel Khan beat Barkatullah 6-0, 7-6(7); Ahmed Ch beat Shaheen Mehmood 6-1, 6-1 and Muzammil Murtaza beat Aqib Hayat 6-2, 6-3.

In men’s doubles quarterfinals, Barkatullah/Ahmad Ch beat Mudassar Murtaza/Asad Siyyid 6-3, 6-3; M Abid/Waqas Malik beat Ahmed Kamil/Ibrahim Omer 6-3, 6-1; Yousaf Khalil/Heera Ashiq beat Ejaz Khan/Asadullah 4-6, 6-1, 13-11 and Aqeel Khan/Muzammil Murtaza beat M Shoaib/Huzaifa Abdul Rehman 6-2, 6-4.

In ladies singles quarterfinals, high-flying Mahin Aftab was humbled by Pakistan’s international famed player Ushna Suhail 6-1, 6-2. In other matches, Sara Mansoor outpaced Esha Jawad 6-1, 6-1, Sarah Mahboob thumped Shimza Naz 6-2, 6-4 and Meheq Khokhar beat Noor Malik of ZTBL 6-2, 6-0. In ladies doubles semifinals, Ushna/Mahin thrashed Adela/Krisztina 6-0, 6-0 and Meheq/Noor (ZTBL) crushed Mehvish/Esha 6-0, 6-0.

In boys U-18 singles second round, Hamid Israr, Faizan Fayyaz, Mahatir Muhammad, Sami Zeb, Hasheesh Kumar, M Shoaib, Zalan Khan and Nalain Abbas emerged as winners. In boys U-14 singles second round matches, Ahtesham Humayun, Yahya Musa, Husnain Ali Rizwan and Haider Ali Rizwan of LGS Paragon, Asad Zaman, Ahmed Nail and Hamza Asim were triumphant. In U-12 boys & girls singles second round, Ameer Mazari, Hammad Shah, Haziq Asim, Hamza Ali Rizwan, Zohaib Malik, Soha Ali, Nabeel Ali Qayum, Taimoor Khan, Haniya Minhas, Ahtesham Humayun were winners while in U-10 boys & girls second round, Hamza Ali Rizwan was victorious.