By Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD (February 1, 2020):-Top seed Aqeel Khan and 2nd seed Muzammil Murtaza reached into the Men’s Singles final of the 33rd Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships 2020 at Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex, Garden Avenue, Islamabad on Saturday.
In the first semi-final, 2nd seed Muzammil Murtaza proved too good for 8th seed Mohammad Abid and eliminated him in straight sets with the score of 6-4,6-1. He was in good form and hit a number of winners to outplay his opponent.
The best encounter of the day was second semifinal which was played between unseeded 17-year old Huzaifa Abdul Rehman from Islamabad and top seed Aqeel Khan on the center court. In the first set, Aqeel built up a 5-3 lead by breaking the 3rd game of Huzaifa. Huzaifa leveled the score 5-5 by breaking the 10th game of Aqeel after seven deuces and then went on to win the first set 7-5 by breaking 12th game of Aqeel.
In the 2nd set, the score went up to 3-3 all, as both the players held their serves. Aqeel won the 2nd set by breaking 7th & 9th game of Huzaifa, who hit 8 double faults in the 2nd set.
In the final set, Aqeel took a 2-0 lead by breaking 2nd game of Huzaifa, but Huzaifa fought back bravely and leveled the score 2-2 by breaking 3rd game of Aqeel on love. Aqeel served for the match at 5-3, but Huzaifa not only saved a match-point but also broke Aqeel to go 4-5. In a long game, Aqeel finally broke Huzaifa to take the set and match 6-4 and will face Muzammil Murtaza in the final on Sunday at 1-30.
In the Senior 45 category event, Irfanulaah and Israr Gul won the title by beating Hameed ul Haq and Mehmood Khan 6-3,6-3.
Sunday (2nd February) final of Men’s Singles will be played at 1:30; Tariq Mehmood Murtaza Chairman Rawalpindi Development Authority and President Islamabad Tennis Association will grace the occasion as chief guest to distribute the prizes among the winners and runner-ups. Capital Smart City is the official sponsor of the 33rd Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships 2020
Results are as under:
Mens Singles Semifinals:
Aqeel Khan beat Huzaifa Abdul Rehman 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
Muzammil Murtaza beat Mohammad Abid 6-4,6-1
Mens Doubles Final:
Shahzad Khan & Mohammad Abid beat Barkatullah & Ahmed Choudhary 6-1, 6-3
Senior 45 Final:
Irfanullah/Israr Gul beat Hameed ul Haq/Mehmood Khan 6-4,6-3
