Daily Times

LAHORE: The 6th Hassan Tariq Rahim National Ranking Tennis Tournament emanated vigour, energy, punch and muscle at the hard courts of Lahore Gymkhana during the course of pre-quarterfinals fought out here on Wednesday, the third day of the event. The men’s singles matches involved locking of horns between high toned players and budding players who are still in their formative years and seek to polish up their expertise and proficiency through encounters with exceptional and admirable contestants. The match that attracted the maximum assembly was the one between Aqeel Khan, the number one ranked tennis player of the country, and Ahmed Babar, a player of considerable talent.And as the contest progressed, noticeable was aggressive intent on the part of Aqeel. His returns were first rate and most of the time he hit the ball deep and safely down the middle.As for Ahmad,he did endeavor to show consistency but ultimately had to bow out as steadiness remained critical attribute of the winner Aqeel. The score were 6-2 and 6-4.

Out of the other seven pre-quarterfinals, those who ended up in the forefront were Heera Ashiq,Yousaf Khalil, Muzamil Murtaza, Mudassar Murtuza, Shahzad Khan, Muhammad Abid and Muhammad Shoaib. Undoubtedly, they impressed with their pace and power and compact play.Out of the shattered ones, Imran Bhatti aroused interest through determined play and also skillful were MIjaz Khan and Ahmad Chaudhary. In the men’s doubles, Aisamul Haq and Aqeel stamped out the pair of Ahmed Kamal and Hamid Israr 6-1,6-0.Tempo and momentum of the winning pair was monumental and pulverized the opponents. Other successful ones in doubles were Ahmad Asjad and Ahmad Nail,Jamil Akhtar and Kashif Rehmat and Yousaf Khalil and Heera Ashiq.

In the boys’ under-18 category, the quarter final stage was reached.After proficient and adept play those who reached the quarterfinals were Hasheesh Kumar after beating Yahya Ahtesham, while Baqir Ali overwhelmed Hassan Ali and Semi Zeb Khan drained out Ghazi Ahmed. Till now the maestros have looked commanding and authoritative and with quarterfinals due to be played from Thursday toppling is a likelihood for ranked players also.