ISLAMABAD - Huzaifa Abdul Rehman squeezed into the final of the ITF Pakistan Junior Tennis Championship 2018 after thrashing Saqib Hayat in straight sets in the semi-finals played here at Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex on Thursday.
A total of 8 matches were played on the fourth day of the mega event. Top seed Penev Ivan of Bulgaria also reached the final as he hammered Berk Ulas ENC (TUR) 6-1, 6-1. Penev Ivan started the match in aggressive style and won the first set by breaking 4th and 6th games. In the second set, he was again in full command and built up the winning lead 4-0 by breaking 1st and 3rd games of Berk as he hit a number of winners down the line and cross court to win it 6-1, thus booked berth in the final.
In the second semi-final, Huzaifa Abdul Rehman was in fine touch and won the first set without conceding a single game breaking 1st, 3rd and 5th games of Saqib Hayat. He kept the same pressure in the second set and won easily by breaking 3rd, 5th and 7th games of Saqib. The match lasted 52 minutes and officiated by Hussain Mehmood. The boys singles final will be played on tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:30pm.
In the girls’ singles, Sara Yigin of Germany and Mina Toglukdemir of Turkey advanced to the final by beating their respective opponents in the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Sara Yigin struggled hard to win her encounter against Shen Hannah Kaile of Hong Kong.
Sara won the first set 7-5 by breaking 12th game of Shen while in the second set, both the players displayed quality tennis and hit a number of winners from the base line. The score went up to 4-all as both the players held their respective serves. Sara then held her serve and broke the 10th game of Shen at 15-40 by hitting cross court winners. The match lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes.
In the second semi-final, Mina Toglukdemir proved too good for Asim Zoha of Pakistan and won the match without any resistance in straight sets. The girls singles final will be played today (Friday) at 10am. In the girls doubles, Sara Yigin/Mina Toglukdemir and Melina Mehrani/Meshkatolzahra Safi qualified for the final, which will be played tomorrow (Saturday) at 10am.
In boys doubles event, both Pakistani teams qualified for the final by eliminating their respective teams in the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Shoaib Khan/Huzafia A Rehman made major upset by beating top seeds Penev Ivan/Rohghani Arya in a well-contested three-set match. Pakistani pair won the match on tie-break 13-11. In the second semi-final, Saqib Hayat/Aftab Mehmood won their encounter against Talavar Yunes/Suryana Brendon in another thrilling three-set match. The doubles final will be played today (Friday) at 2:30pm.