Ushna outclasses Sara for second ranking title

Playing aggressive game, third seed Ushna Suhail shocked top seed Sara Mansoor in straight final to pick up her second national ranking title of the year in the second Modern Club Founder Members Tennis Championship on Saturday.

Ushna, 22, didn’t allow her opponent to settle down as she romped home 6-2, 6-2 in convincing fashion to the delight of the sizeable crowd that was present to watch the clash. The organisers have brought forward the final in view of Pakistan women’s team departure to Bangkok late Saturday night to compete in the Fed Cup.

Ushna earned a purse of Rs35,000 and winners trophy while Sara Mansoor received Rs17,000 and runner-up trophy from 1960 Rome Olympic gold medallist and administrator of the Modern Club Abdul Waheed Khan amidst applause from the crowd soon after the final.

Coached by veteran Davis Cupper Rashid Malik, Ushna has shown marked improvement in her game by regularly appearing in the WTA events abroad for the last three years. She has won two bronze medals in the 2016 South Asian Games at Guwhati in India in ladies singles and mixed doubles with his cousin Aisam-ul-Haq.

According to Rashid, Ushna opened the year on winning note by capturing the ladies singles title in the Kulsoom Saifullah tennis event at Islamabad.

Meanwhile, top two seeds — Aqeel Khan and Yasir Khan — propelled into the last eight after their second success in the men’s singles.

The former carved out 6-0, 6-3 victory over Abdul Reh­man while the latter demolished Abdul Majeed 6-0, 6-0.

Results

Ladies singles final: Ushana Suhail bt Sara Mansoor 6-2, 6-2.

Men’s singles:

First round: Usman Rafiq bt Robin Das 6-2, 6-1; Aqeel Shabbir bt Amanuel Anwar 6-2, 7-5; Nazif Ahmed bt Sher Ahmed Khan 7-5, 6-2; Yasir Khan bt Zeeshan Bachani 6-0, 6-1.

Second round (pre quarter-finals): Muzammil Murtaza (Multan) bt Faizan Khurram (ahoreH)7-5, 6-4; Hera Ashaq (Lahore) br Raza Sawani 6-4, 6-3; Haris Irfan-ull-Haq bt Abdal Haider 6-7, 7-6,(5), 6-2; Usman Rafiq bt Aqeel Shabber 6-2, 6-2; Yasir Khan bt Abdul Majeed 6-0, 6-0; Aqeel Khan bt Abdul Rehman 6-0, 6-3.

Under-12 singles first round:Asher Mir bt M Farooq Atiq 8-4; Ibrahim Khan bt Saim Danish 8-4.

Under-14 singles quarter-finals: Amin Shafi bt Abdul Samad 6-0, 6-0; Rayyan Jawwad bt Yahya Ehtashim 6-3, 6-2; Mohammad Dada bt Rayyan Sohail 6-1, 7-6(2); Houd Azhar bt Abdullah khan 6-1, 6-0.

Under-16 singles: Houd Azhar bt Ahmed Ehtashm 7-5. 6-2 Rayyan jawwad bt Mujahidullah khatak 6-2,6-3; Hafiz Arbab bt Zubair Raja 7-6, 3-6, 7-6.

Quarter-finals: Bilal Imran bt Shahzil Malik 6-4, 6-4.

Under-18 singles second round:Marib Malik bt Usama Saeed 6-0, 6-0; Noman Aftab bt Talha Sohial 6-4, 6-4; Sahibzada Mohammad Ali bt Mujadullah Khatak 6-2, 3-1 (retired); Haris Irfanul Haq bt Shahzil Malk 6-0, 6-4; Muzammil Murtaza bt Azhar 6-0, 3-0 (retired); M Usama Saeed bt Shahaz (walkover);

Marib Malik bt Zeeshan Bachani 6-0, 6-0; Eibad Sarwar Hussain Khan bt Ahmed Eatssham 6-4, 7-6; Sheeraz Bhand bt Mubeen Pirzada (walkover); Noman Aftab bt Bilal KHan 6-1 (retired); Talha Sohail bt M Dada 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Nazif Ahmed bt Asad Bachani 6-1, 6-2.

(Source: Dawn News)