Daily Times

Pakistan top tennis player Aqeel Khan won the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Open Tennis Championship after defeating Barkat Ullah in the final of the men’s singles in Peshawar on Friday. Aqeel and Barkat enthused crowds with a display of powerful forehands, cross-court smashes and some beautiful and speedy aces. Aqeel took the first set 6-3 wherein Barkat raced up from 3 games down by levelling the tally 3-3 before Aqeel won the battle. Barkat claimed the second set after some attractive baseline shots. However, Aqeel claimed the third and final set 6-2 with some clinical backhand and forehand shots. In the Under-14 final, 3rd seeded Kashan Umar defeated Hamza Roman, the top-seeded player and Pakistan No 1, in the semi-final and recorded victory against second seed Uzair Khan in the final 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4. In the men’s doubles event, Shoaib Khan and Asad Ullah defeated Ejaz Akhtar and Barkat Ullah 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3.

Published in Daily Times, March 10^th 2019.