{"id":112031,"date":"2026-08-13T15:42:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pakistan-duo-aisam-aqeel-advance-to-itf-masters-semi-finals-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T15:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:42:26","slug":"pakistan-duo-aisam-aqeel-advance-to-itf-masters-semi-finals-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pakistan-duo-aisam-aqeel-advance-to-itf-masters-semi-finals-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan duo Aisam, Aqeel advance to ITF Masters semi-finals | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n ISLAMABAD: <\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pakistan\u2019s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan continued their impressive run at the ITF Masters World Individual Championships, advancing to the semifinals of the Men\u2019s 45+ Doubles after a thrilling victory over the dangerous Spanish pairing of Francisco Javier Mart\u00ednez Baena and Pedro Nieto Orellana.<\/p>\n

In a dramatic quarterfinal played on Court 1 at the famous Jamor Tennis Center, the Pakistani duo prevailed 6-7, 7-6, [10-2] in front of a sizeable gathering of tennis enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Aisam and Aqeel appeared to be heading for defeat after dropping a tightly contested opening set and then falling a break behind in the second. The Spaniards subsequently held two match points, but the experienced Pakistani pair produced their best tennis under pressure, saving both and forcing the set into a tiebreak.<\/p>\n

After taking the second set 7-6, Aisam and Aqeel completely seized the momentum in the deciding match tiebreak, racing away to a commanding 10-2 victory to seal a memorable comeback and a place in the World Championship semifinals.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the tournament, the Pakistani pair had overcome the leading Japanese combination of **Hayato Otsubo and **Manabu Tsujimoto in 3 sets, further underlining their strong form in Lisbon. They will now face a Ukrainian duo in the semifinals as they attempt to secure a place in the championship match.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Pakistan also enjoyed an outstanding day in the 40+ Mixed Doubles, with both Aisam and Aqeel reaching the semifinals with their respective partners.<\/p>\n

Aqeel, partnering Eileen Aranas-Roth of Germany, fought back from a set down to defeat the Portuguese pairing of Caterina and Joao Ferreira 4-6, 7-6, [10-4]. Like his men\u2019s doubles quarterfinal, the contest required a determined comeback before Aqeel and Aranas-Roth dominated the deciding match tiebreak.<\/p>\n

Aisam, meanwhile, partnered Nina Hermann of Austria and produced a more straightforward quarterfinal victory, defeating the German combination of Katherina Rath and Thomas Bergmeister 6-2, 6-4 to book their place in the last four.<\/p>\n

The results mean that Pakistan\u2019s two leading players have now reached the semifinals in both Men\u2019s Doubles and Mixed Doubles, continuing a remarkable World Championships campaign in Lisbon following Pakistan\u2019s silver-medal performance in the Men\u2019s 45+ World Team Championships.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan\u2019s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan continued their impressive run at the ITF Masters World Individual Championships, advancing to the semifinals of the Men\u2019s 45+ Doubles after a thrilling victory over the dangerous Spanish pairing of Francisco Javier Mart\u00ednez Baena and Pedro Nieto Orellana. In a dramatic quarterfinal played on Court 1 at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/img-06531786623042-0\/img-06531786623042-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t