Boys’ top seed Mohammad Ishtiaq kept his hopes alive for winning a double crown in the Bengal Plastics Asian 14/U Series Tennis Tournament. Ishtiaq had to strive hard to survive in the singles quarterfinal when he defeated Aurnab Saha 6-2-, 6-7, 6-3 in a fairly contested match at the National Tennis Complex in the capital yesterday. His doubles partner Naimul Islam eliminated Shaikat Shahriar 6-3, 6-0 in another quarterfinal.
Mehedi Hasan toppled seeded No 2 Md HridoyHasan 6-3, 6-0, while seeded No 3 Swadhin Hossain beat Mohammad Rakib Hossain 6-3, 6-0 in the other two quarterfinal matches. Naimul Islam and Ishtiaq after facing tough resistance in the first set made a good recovery to down  Afridi and Yaman 7-6, 6-0 in a boys’ doubles quarterfinal match. Swadhin and Rakib gave a good account of themselves as they blanked Noor and Rashedul 6-0, 6-0, while Mehedi and Shaikat exerted a little pressure on Muhtasim and Ishan before winning the quarterfinal battle 6-2, 6-2. Hridoy and Aurnab defeated  Faridur and Tamim 7-5, 7-5 in the most exciting match of the day before booking their semifinal berth.
Meanwhile, girls’ singles title contenders Popy Akter will face Fabiha Lamisa Suchana in the final. Popy eliminated Ety Akter 6-4, 6-3 and Suchana knocked out Shravasti Dev 6-1, 6-0 in the two semifinals. Popy pairing with Ety defeated Shraboni and Suchana 6-3, 6-1 in the girls’ doubles semifinal. Jarin Sultana and Treepty combined well to down Sadia and Shravasti 6-4, 6-2 in the other semifinal. The finals of girls’ singles and doubles, while the semifinals of boys’ singles and doubles will be held today.