LAHORE - The Pakistan junior tennis team has returned home to a warm welcome from tennis officials, fans, and family members at the Allama Iqbal International Airport.
The team, consisting of Abubakar Talha, Hamza Roman, (third member Amir Mazari was not present) and coach Heera Ashiq, received a warm reception from everyone present, with PLTA Secretary General Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), former PTF Senior Vice President Col (R) Asif Dar, and tennis enthusiasts welcoming them in a remarkable manner.
Malik congratulated the entire team and praised their remarkable performances during the ITF World Group final. Despite having limited facilities as compared to other tennis playing nations, the young Pakistani boys managed to beat big teams such as Australia, Indonesia, Iran, and Hong Kong before losing to Japan 1-2 in the final. “This achievement is an excellent reflection of the country’s tennis talent and the efforts of PTF, PLTA and their coaches and mainly due to allout support from the sponsors, without whose cooperation, this couldn’t happen.
More such generous support from corporate sector and government is direly needed if we want to see Pakistani juniors excelling in ITF events,” Malik added. This was a historic moment for Pakistan as the junior tennis team qualified for the ITF World Group final. The last time Pakistan qualified for the ITF World Group was in 1996, where they played against the USA in the semifinals and narrowly lost 1-2 after getting a tie point. Only two teams in Pakistan’s tennis history, the 1996 and the current junior team, have managed to qualify for the ITF World Group. Rashid Malik had the honor of being 1996 junior team captain/coach while this time, he received the current team as a PLTA Secretary. Col (R) Asif Dar had also the honor of receiving both the teams.
As a PTF Secretary General, he welcomed the 1996 junior team at the airport and awarded them cash prizes with the approval of the then PTF President Anwar Saifullah Khan. As a former PTF Senior Vice President, Col (R) Asif Dar was again present at the airport to welcome the history creating junior team upon their return. Incidentally, current PTF President Salim Saifullah Khan is the brother of the 1996 PTF President Anwar Saifullah Khan