LAHORE              -              Noor Malik of ZTBL clinched the 1st Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Tennis Championship 2020 trophy after thumping Esha Jawad in the ladies singles final played here at the PLTA courts on Friday.

Noor was in sublime form and displayed outstanding tennis skills and techniques in the final, where she though faced some resistance in the first set yet she remained dominant throughout the final and won it in straight sets. In the first set, both the players matched fire-with-fire and the score reached 4-all, where Noor utilized all her energies and expertise to overcome spirited Esha to take the set 6-4. In the second set, Noor once again showed her class and took a lead of 3-1 while Esha got injured and retired, thus Noor won the final and grabbed the title.

Talking to media after winning the title, Noor said: “I would like to thank my department ZTBL for their all-out support due to which I am gradually improving and excelling in my category and I am keen to work harder to produce better results. My father Rashid Malik, who himself is a former Davis Cupper, also keeps on guiding me and gives me very useful tips to improve my game and I am committed to win more and more feats for me and my department.”

All the boys U-14 quarterfinals proved to be one-sided affairs, where the winners won their respective matches quite comfortably. In the first quarterfinal, Saeed Suleman thrashed Abdullah Sajjad 8-1, Ameer Mazari outperformed Movia Butt 8-2, Zaeem Ghafoor routed Essa Bilal 8-1 and Eshtesham Hamayun beat Sarim Rasool thumped 8-3. In the girls U-14 quarterfinals, Mehru Fatima defeated Jannat Khalil 3-4, 4-2, 10-2 and Saleha Zeeshan beat Alina Suleman 0-4, 4-1, 10-1. In the girls U-18 semifinals, Ashtifla Arif trounced Fajar Masood 6-0, 6-1.

In boys U-18 quarterfinals, Faizan Fayyaz edged out Hamza Jawad 8-6, Zain Chaudhry overpowered Haris Wahla 8-5 and Hassan Ali toppled Ahmed Amir 8-5. In men’s singles quarterfinals, Sikandar Hayat outscored Nalain Abbas 6-2, 6-3, Mian Bilal overwhelmed Fayyaz Khan 6-0, 6-1, Ahmed Kamil routed Rana Hamayun 6-2, 6-2 and Imran Bhatti defeated Zaryab Pirzada 6-3, 6-4.

Tournament Director Rashid Malik, who is also PLTA Secretary, has said that the event is being conducting successfully under the aegis of Sports Board Punjab, where quality tennis matches were witnessed for the last three days. The finals of the event will be played at state-of-the-art Tennis Stadium of Nishtar Park Sports Complex, where DG Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh likely to be the chief guest.