LAHORE - Faizan Fayyaz and Bilal Asim advanced to the SICAS Punjab Junior Tennis Tournament U-18 semifinals after winning their respective quarterfinals played here at Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah on Thursday.
In U-18 quarterfinal, Faizan Fayyaz beat Hamza Jawad 6-1, 6-1, Bilal Asim (SICAS) beat Ahtesham Arif 6-3, 6-0 while Shaeel Durab beat Ifham Rana 5-7, 6-2, 10-2. In U-18 doubles semifinals, Faizan Fayyaz/Bilal Asim (SICAS) beat Ahtesham Arif/Jabir Ali 4-1, 1-4, 10-6 while Zain Ul Abideen/Ifham Rana beat Zaeem Ghafoor/Abdullah Anjum 4-2, 4-2.
In U-14 quarterfinals, Bilal Asim (SICAS) beat Muneeb Majeed 8-0, Arman Kamran beat Zaeem Ghafoor 8-0, Abubakar Khalil beat Moavia Butt 8-3 and Asad Zaman beat Saeed Suleman 8-1. In boys/girls U-12 quarterfinals, Haniya Minhas beat Eesa Bilal 8-0, Ameer Mazari beat Zohaib Afzal Malik 8-2, Omer Jawad beat Jannat Khalil 8-0 and Raja Mustafa beat Ramzan 8-2.
In boys/girls U-10 pre-quarterfinals, Ali Usman beat Eesa Zohaib 8-5, Talha Tarar beat Afaf Suleman 8-6, Nauman beat Romail Shahid 8-3, Zohaib Afzal Malik beat Inam Bari 8-0 and Harris Bajwa beat Jannat Khalil 8-0. Today (Friday), the semifinals of boys U-18, boys U-14, boys/girls U-12 and quarterfinals of boys/girls U-10 will be decided.
Punjab Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) Secretary Rashid Malik has said that SICAS are playing an important and pivotal role in the promotion of sports in Punjab by sponsoring a good number of sports events in especially of tennis as part of their sports diplomacy. “Hopefully, more sponsors will come forward to support this beautiful game as well as PLTA in developing and promoting tennis across the country.”