ISLAMABAD - Korean unseeded Kim Dong Hwan made a huge upset by ousting top seed British Daniel Webb in their thrilling three-set quarterfinal of the ITA-SNGPL ITF Pakistan World Junior Tennis Championship 2019 here at the Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s Huzaifa Abdul Rehman advanced into the semifinals of the event after defeating Hong Kong’s Kang Gunuk in straight sets, while local Shoaib Khan also booked his place in the semifinals by hammering Chinese Taipei’s Lu Chen Yu.
Top ranked Webb was favourite against unseeded Korean Hwan in the first quarterfinal. The first set was started on a high-tempo, as both the players were fighting hard in front of the spectators, who were mainly comprised of international players and officials. They displayed top class tennis and managed to hold onto their respective serves. The score was 4-4 before Webb dominated and took the set 6-4.
In the second set, both the players managed to hold onto their serves till the 11th game. However, Hwan won the set 7-5 by breaking last game of his opponent to force the match into third and last set. Hwan comfortably held his first serve in the third set and broke his opponent’s serve to take 2-0 lead. He continued with his heroics and took the third set 6-2 to win the match, which lasted for more than two hours and 40 minutes.
It was double enjoyment for the supporters of Pakistani players, as first Shoaib thrashed Chen Yu in straight sets to reach semifinals. Shoaib, who was in supreme control right from the start, put enormous pressure on his opponent to win the two-set encounter, 6-0 and 6-2. While in another quarterfinal, Huzaifa demolished Gunuk in straight sets by playing flawless tennis. Huzaifa was dictating terms and pushing his opponent to all corners of the court to win the match with the scores of 6-1 and 6-0. Min-Joon Kim of Korea beat Yu-Shun Lai Chinese Taipei, 6-3 and 6-1, in another singles quarterfinal.
In the girls’ matches, Turkish top seed Aysegul Mert, Russian Valitova Arina, Korean Choi Ji-Woo and her compatriot Jang Soo-Ha advanced into the semifinals after beating their respective opponents in straight sets. Mert was given tough resistance by Iranian Khanloo Mahta in their first set. Mert fought very hard to claim the set 6-4 before taking the one-sided second set 6-2. Soo-Ha beat Meshkatulzahra Safi of Iran, 6-2 and 6-1, Ji-Woo stunned Thouard Clemence of France, 6-2 and 6-1, and Arina outperformed Hannah Kaile Shen of Hong Kong, 6-2 and 6-4.
In the boys’ doubles quarterfinals, German Luca Emanuel Knese/Sri Lankan Kavisha Ratnayake outclassed Pakistan pair Ahmed Kamil/Saqib Hayat in their three-set encounter, 7-5, 4-6 and 10-3, Pakistan pair Shoaib/Huzaifa beat Korean Gunuk /Hong Kong’s Curtis Hong Tseng Tan, 6-2 and 6-1, and Pakistan’s Muhammad Nauman Aftab/Iran’s Erikin Tootoonchi Moghadam outperformed Pakistan pair Zalan Khan/Subhan Bin Salik, 7-6(2) and 6-3.
In girls’ doubles quarterfinals, Turkish Mert/Russian Arina beat Pakistan pair Shima Durab/Imsha Jawad, 6-0 and 6-0, Korean pair Ji-Woo/Soo-Ha stunned Iranian Dorsa Cheraghi/Turkish Leyla Nilufer Elmas, 6-1 and 6-2, Aliya Abbas of Moldova/France’s Clemence defeated Pakistan’s Zoha Asim/Hong Kong’s Shen, 6-1 and 6-0, and Iranian pair Khanlool/Meshkatolzahra thrashed Hong Kong’s Ariba Imran Idress/Kazakhstan’s Asima Szzanova, 6-1 and 6-1.
