BAHRAIN’S Hamad Fardan has reached the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) Open Tennis Championship at the Bahrain Tennis Club (BTC) courts in Juffair.
Fardan cruised to an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Ahmed Mahmood in the pre-quarterfinal round.
He will now face Britain’s Warrender Henry in the quarterfinal, after the latter registered a 6-2, 6-0 win over Bahraini Khalifa Rashdan.
In another match, Vineeth Nair advanced after a tough battle against Khalid Qayoom.
Qayoom seemed to get close to a win after claiming the first set 7-4, only for Vineeth to stage a comeback with a 6-4 win in the second set to take the duo to a golden tie-breaker set.
Vineeth claimed the set 13-1 to qualify for a quarter-final clash against top-seeded Nasser Khonji, who eased past Abdulaziz Bokhamas 6-1, 6-1.
The men’s super doubles saw AbdulRahman Janahi and Janji claim a 6-3, 6-3 win over Bader Abdulaal and Catito to book their berth in the semi-finals.
Hassan Reda and Abdulla Ahmed also got a step close to the title by overcoming Loohius Bas and Michiel 6-3, 3-6, 10-4.
In the other semifinals, Sala J and Stewart registered a thrilling 7-5, 7-5 win over Yousef Qaed and Karim Redha while Eric and Rahul Jaideep received a walkover against Rick De Groot and Serwin Rampersad.
The semi-finals kick off today. In the men’s super doubles semis, Abdulrahman Janahi and Janaji come up against Hassan Reda and Abdulla Ahmed while Eric and Rahul Jaideep take on Sala J and Stewart.
Other Results:
Men’s singles: Sinocruz Gilbert bt Khalid Nass 6-1, 7-5; Ali Khalifa Mattar bt Nilesh Parmar 6-1, 2-6, 10-5. Nalak Chokappa bt Roy Boutagy 6-3, 6-3; Ashraf Atbani bt Juan Manuel Juares 5-7, 7-5, 10-4.
Veteran’s over 55 doubles: Ali Khonji/Fouad Shehab bt K somanthan/Ed Tuando 6-0, 6-0;
TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAY
4.30pm: Men’s singles: Warrender Henry vs Hamad Fardan; Nasser Khonji vs Vineeth Nair; Ashraf Atabani vs Sinocruz Gilbert; Ali Khalifa Mattar vs Nalan Chokappa; Anacin Ronaldo vs Teddy
6pm: Veterans’ over-45 singles: Karim Hajjar vs Joseph Stalin; Thahir Mohamed vs Somanathan; Shanbhang Uday vs Samaco Sami; Farzam Kazrooni vs Cassius Perreira.
Men’s doubles: Shaikh Nader Al Khalifa/Ervin Taimola vs Ashraf Atbani/Ahmed Jaffar.
7pm:
Women’s doubles: Nazely Redha/Mariam Mohammed vs Elena Sitjar/Amie Canlas;
Men’s super doubles: Abdulrahman Janahi/Janji vs Hassan Reda/Abdula Ahmed; Eric/Rahul Jaideep vs Sala/Stewart
Veterans’ over-45 singles: Kadr Risk vs Toledo Gerry
8pm: Women’s doubles: Ching Abande/Abby Pelagio vs Annie Deguzman/Lydia Sinocrus; Thess Corral/Bohol Genalyin vs Faten Hamed/Mariam Abdulla; Tanya Lee/Zoe Chen vs Rawan Adel Albloushi/Alia Abdulla
Veterans’ over-45 singles: Diminic Alexander vs Roni Cifra