In U-18 first semifinal, Bilal Asim beat Hashesh Kumar 6-4, 7-5. The second semifinal saw Mahatir Muhammad defeating Hamid Israr 7-6, 6-1. Bilal also advanced in the U-16 category, where he outclassed Sameer Zaman 6-1, 6-1 to reach semifinals. In other U-16 quarterfinals, Haider Ali Rizwan thrashed Taimoor Khan 6-0, 6-0, Asad Zaman thumped Abubaker Khalil 6-0, 6-1 and Ahmad Nael outpaced Ahtesham Humayun 7-5, 6-1.
Talking about rising star and his brilliant student Bilal Asim, renowned coach Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) said: “I have been coaching Bilal and working on his aggressive tennis and volleys. Mentally, he is totally a different player now. He will be playing a couple of ITF junior events in next two months.”
It is worth mentioning here that under Malik, many champions have been produced in last few decades and he is committed to his mission of producing more champions for Pakistan, who will soon start playing Junior Grand Slams in coming years.
In ladies singles semifinals, Noor Malik (Wapda) routed Natalia Zaman 6-4, 6-1. Noor Malik said that she is working really hard these days and especially focusing on her fitness, game and skills. She wants to become top ladies player of the country. In girls U-18 semifinals, Ashtafila Arif humbled Laiba 6-0, 6-1.
In U-12 quarterfinal match, SA Garden’s Zohaib Afzal Malik (LGS Phase V) played well against Shayan Afridi and won the encounter 4-2, 4-1. He will now take on Omer Jawad in the semifinals. In U-14 quarterfinal, Zohaib went down fighting against Hamza Ali Rizwan (LGS Paragon). The match went on duce, however, Zohaib lost it 3-6, 2-6.
In the U-10 pre-quarterfinals, Maaz Shahbaz beat Farhan Cheema 4-1, 5-3, Moazam Babar beat Taha Asad 5-3, 4-1, Ayan Shahbaz beat Aezad Siraj 5-3, 4-2, Inam Ali beat Zayed Zaman 3-2 (rtd), Ahsan Bari beat Zainah Abdullah 4-2, 4-1.