Unseeded Talha stuns Abdullah as Federal Cup starts

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ISLAMABAD: Unseeded Talha Khan delivered a stunning rout of sixth seed Abdullah Adnan with a 6-1, 6-0 victory on Monday as the 37th OGDCL Federal Cup National Ranking Tennis Championships began here at the S. Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex.

The 18-year-old Islamabad native dominated the first-round clash, breaking Adnan in the third and fifth games of the opener before sweeping the second set without conceding a game.

Talha’s aggressive baseline play and precise serves left the higher-ranked Adnan scrambling throughout the match.

In other men’s singles action, Mohammad Yahya rallied past Islamabad’s M. Hamza Aasim 3-6, 6-2, 4-1 (retired) after Hamza retired with a leg injury in the decisive set.

Earlier matches also saw a series of one-sided contests, with multiple players securing comfortable victories across categories, underlining the dominance of seasoned competitors over lower-ranked opponents.

Women’s singles, junior Under-18, and boys’ Under-14 matches followed a similar pattern, as established stars overpowered less experienced rivals.

Results (first round):

Men’s singles: Mohammad Shoaib bt Ali Abdaar 6-2 6-1; Huzaima Abdul Rehman bt M. Taha Khizer 6-0, 6-0; Barkatullah bt Abdul Basit 6-0, 6-2; Yousaf Khalil bt Zohaib Afzal Malik 6-2, 6-2; Ahmad Chaurday bt Jabir Ali 6-4, 6-2; M. Haziq Aasim bt Mohammad Rayyan 6-3, 6-4; Sami Zeb Khan w/o Hisashi Izumi; Saqib Hayat bt M. Talha Khan; 6-1, 6-2, M. Huzaifa Khan bt Waqar Ahmad 6-0, 6-0; Muzammil Murtaza bt Saifullah Khan 6-1, 6-1; Mohammad Ali bt Jibran-ul-Haq 6-3, 6-3; Ahmad Nael Qureshi bt Kamran Khan 6-0 ,6-1; Mohammad Salar bt Kashan Tariq 6-0, 6-1; Aqeel Khan bt M. Umer Javed 6-0 6-1.

Women’s singles: Lalarukh Sajid bt Maria Rasheed 6-0, 6-1; Mehaq Khokhar bt Sofia Tariq 6-1, 6-0; Zunaisha Noor bt Shandana Rabbi 6-0, 6-1; Noor Malik w/o Maida Awais; Maryam Hussain w/o Ayma Rehman.

Junior Under-18: Razik Sultan bt Hassan Amir 6-0, 6-0, Saqib Ali bt Ahmad Abrar 6-0, 6-1

Boys Under-14 singles: M. Faizan bt Moazzam Babar 4-0, 4-0; M. Zohaib Javed w/o Salar Khan; M. Mahad Mahmood bt Ather Sher Dil 4-0, 4-0, Behroze M. Wander bt M. Adam Raja 4-0, 4-1; Mohammad Shakaib bt M. Ahmad Afzal 4-1, 4-2.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025

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