Qureshi shocks top seed Paes

CALCUTTA, FEB 17: Unheralded Aisam Qureshi (Pakistan) capitalised on a series of double faults and unforced errors by Leander Paes to shock the top-seeded Indian 6-3, 7-5 and storm into the semi-finals in the ATP Challenger Tennis meet here on Thursday.

Third-seeded Tuomas Ketola (Finland) also struggled a bit before suppressing spirited qualifier Nir Welgreen (Israel) with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 victory to keep his title hopes alive.

Fourth-seeded Mose Navarra (Italy) played a steady serve and volley game to demolish sixth-seeded Australian Dejan Petrovic 6-4, 6-4 verdict to storm into the semi-final.

In another quarter final encounter, unseeded Andy Ram (Israel) prevailed over Japan’s Satoshi Iwabuchi with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 scoreline.