ISLAMABAD - Pakistan young tennis sensation Mahin Aftab has been creating waves in international tennis circuit as she stormed into semifinals of the ITF Asian U-14 Tennis Championships Division II being held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Partnering with local girl, she also booked a place in the doubles quarterfinals Wednesday.
Talking to The Nation, Mahin, 13, said: “I am enjoying my tennis and grateful to my dad Aftab Qureshi for providing me with opportunity of training in Spain, which helped me a lot. I narrowly missed a golden opportunity to beat former 7-time Pakistan No 1 Sarah Mehboob Khan, where I lost in three marathon sets against the highly-experienced lady in the recently-concluded Kalsoom Saifullah Ranking Tennis Championship. After that, I was provided with an opportunity to represent the country in this high-profile event.”
She said: “During this tour, I got a chance to meet and play against top junior players. I am learning a lot with each passing day. It was a tough quarterfinal against top Sri Lankan junior Perera Joseph Prabbudhi. I settled down well in the first set and played all my shots. It was neck-&-neck battle in the early part of the match before I finally got the things in my favour and wrapped up the first set 6-3.”
“The second set was a treat to watch for the spectators as Prabbudhi played some lovely backhand shots and used baseline best to her abilities. It was looking almost impossible to break her serve in the first six games of the set, as she was not allowing me to play my natural game. She kept on standing on the net and was disturbing me a lot, but after reading her game, I decided to play lobs and chip shots, which paid great dividend and I finally managed to broke her in the 12th game to clinch the game 7-5, thus won the hour-long quarterfinal,” she added.
“I also played the doubles partnering Mai Lin Ngoo Phan. We had a great doubles first round match against local favorites Thuy Than Pran/Tuyet Nhi Huy Nh which started at high pace. Both of us played some aggressive tennis from the baseline and managed to hold onto our respective serves in the entire first set which was decided on tie-break and we won it 7-6.
“The second set was identical to the first one as both of us held on to our respective serves and the set was decided on the tie-break, which we once again managed to win 7-6, thus booked a place in the quarterfinals,” she stated. “I will play the semifinals against top Nepalese player today (Thursday). I want the entire nation to pray for my success. I will try my best to win not only the semifinals but also the final and bring trophy to my country,” Mahin concluded.                 –MOHSIN ALI