LAHORE - Japan beat Pakistan 2-1 in final of the ITF World Tennis Junior Team Competition Asia/Oceania Final Qualifying in Kuching, Malaysia. Pakistani youngsters lost an extremely close, hard-fought final to Japan 1-2. In the first match, Abubakar Talha lost a closely fought match 3-6, 5-7 while Hamza Roman then played his best tennis of the tournament to win the encounter 6-2, 6-1 and levelled the tie at 1-1. In the decisive doubles, which produced exciting tennis, Abubakar and Hamza won the first set 6-4 and were a break up in the second set at 4-3. Two see-saw games saw the Japanese producing quality tennis to take the set.
The Japanese pair stepped up a notch in the deciding match-tiebreak, winning it 10-5 to seal the win and lift the trophy. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan had already qualified for the World Group by virtue of qualifying for the semifinals. After 27 years, Pakistan team will participate in ITF World Junior Group in Czech Republic after beating Indonesia, Iran, Australia and Hong Kong.
This is for the first time when any Pakistan tennis team beat Australia. The event was so tough and many big tennis playing nations like Australia, India, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, New Zealandfailed to qualify for the top four teams while Pakistan managed to qualify as a top 2 team. PTF President Senator Salim Saifullah Khan was elated with the performance of the team and said: “Reaching the final was not an easy task, but our team did it due to their hard work and fighting spirit. I congratulate the players and especially commended captain Heera Ashiq for doing a wonderful job in his first assignment as Pakistan team captain.”