QSF 2 RD1: Top Eight All Through To Quarters

The first round of the QSF 2 took place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Monday evening, with all eight of the seeded players making their way into the quarter finals of the competition.

Only one of the eight matches on the opening day went to a deciding fifth game, with Malaysia’s Darren Rahul Pragasam having to fight his way past Pakistan’s Nour Zaman. The Malaysian, who is the No.4 seed for the competition, led twice, but Zaman levelled on both occasions. However, Pragasam was eventually able to get through in five, setting up a contest with compatriot, and No.5 seed, Ong Sai Hung in the quarter finals.

The tournament’s top seed, Pakistan’s Asim Khan, safely made his way through to the last eight of the Challenger 5 level tournament, after coming from behind to defeat India’s Sandeep Ramachandran in a four-game contest. He lost the first on a tie-break, 14-12, before then winning the next three games quite comfortably, to win in 42 minutes. He will now face No.6 seed Omar ElKattan in the quarter finals of the competition.

The bottom half of the draw will also consist of seeded players, with No.2 seed Syed Azlan Amjad, the leading Qatari in action on home soil, coming from behind to defeat India’s Aadit Zaveri in four games. Amjad will now face Belgium’s Joeri Hapers, while No.3 seed Khaled Labib and No.7 seed Ammar Altamimi will meet in the last quarter final contest.

The quarter finals of the QSF 2 will take place at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Tuesday, April 19.

First Round Results: QSF 2
[1] Asim Khan (PAK) bt Sandeep Ramachandran (IND) 3-1: 12-14, 11-6, 11-2, 11-4 (42m)
[6] Omar ElKattan (EGY) bt Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 (53m)
[5] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) bt Abdulrahman Al-Malki (QAT) 3-0: 11-3, 11-1, 11-3 (28m)
[4] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-2: 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9 (65m)
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) bt Mohamed Ferman Hassan (IRQ) 3-0: 11-9, 11-4, 11-9 (35m)
[7] Ammar Altamimi (KUW) bt Farhan Zaman (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-1, 11-9 (24m)
[8] Joeri Hapers (BEL) bt [WC] Ahmad Mohammad Altamimi (QAT) 3-0: 11-3, 11-4, 11-5 (22m)
[2] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT) bt Aadit Zaveri (IND) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-1, 11-7 (53m)

Quarter Final Draw: To Be Players Tuesday, April 19
[1] Asim Khan (PAK) v [6] Omar ElKattan (EGY)
[5] Ong Sai Hung (MAS) v [4] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS)
[3] Khaled Labib (EGY) v [7] Ammar Altamimi (KUW)
[8] Joeri Hapers (BEL) v [2] Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT)