LAHORE  -  The Aitchison College Junior Tennis Championship 2024 was officially inaugurated on Tuesday at the Aitchison College, Lahore, with an exciting opening ceremony attended by prominent guests and talented young players from across the country. Dr. Syed Muhammad Turab Hussain, Principal of Aitchison College, along with Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), Senior Executive Vice President of Punjab Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA), graced the occasion as chief guests. Joining them were Tournament Referee Sajjad Rasool and Tournament Coordinator Faheem Siddiqui, who oversaw the proceedings as the event got underway.

Principal Dr. Turab Hussain emphasized the significance of hosting such events at the grassroots level. “It is a great honor for Aitchison College to host the seventh edition of the National Junior Championship. Events like these help promote sports at the grassroots level, which is essential for nurturing young talent that can represent the country on national and international stages.”

Highlighting Aitchison’s legacy of producing legendary athletes, Dr. Hussain added: “The college has a long history of nurturing exceptional players in multiple sports. Some of our distinguished alumni include cricket legends like Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Imran Khan, Majid Khan, and Rameez Raja, as well as hockey icons such as Syed Muhammad Jafar, Hassan Sardar, Ayaz Mahmood, Dr Ghulam Rasool, Akhtar Rasool and Syed Qasim Zia while Rashid Malik in tennis. Our commitment to sports is reflected in the state-of-the-art facilities we provide for hockey, cricket, squash, tennis, swimming, riding, athletics, shooting and rugby.” He further lauded the college’s updated tennis facilities and praised the young talent being trained under expert coaches. “Our upcoming tennis stars such as Amir Mazari, Daniyal Abdullah, Shafay Iqbal, Hamza Ahmad, Ammar Rana, Raja Mustafa Mehdi, Abdullah Yousaf and others have shown great promise. I have no doubt that after honing their skills, they will bring honor to their college and country,” he said.

Rashid Malik also expressed gratitude to Aitchison College for their continuous support of junior tennis events. “Sponsorship and backing of junior tournaments like this are crucial for the development of the sport at the grassroots level. The generous support from Aitchison College will have a lasting positive impact on tennis in Pakistan.” More than 22 matches were played on the second day of the tournament, with top players advancing to the next round. In the boys U-18 first round, Asad Zaman defeated Haziq Areejo 6-3, 6-3, M Salaar beat Zohaib Amjad 6-4, 6-3, Haider Ali Rizwan thumped Talha Naveed 6-0, 6-2, Husnain Ali Rizwan outpaced Hamza Ali Rizwan 6-3, 6-3, Yafat Nadeem thrashed Rehaan 6-0, 6-1, Haider Nadeem beat Arbab 6-1, 7-5, Kashan Tariq beat Abdullah Pirzada 6-4, 6-4, Nabeel Qayum beat Rehan 6-3, 6-3, MYahya beat Abu Bakar 6-0, 6-0, Abdul Basit beat Shaheer 6-3, 6-0 and Amir Mazari beat Hamza 6-1, 6-4.

In the boys U-14 first round, Ruhab Faisal beat Hamza Khan, M Junaid beat Romail Shahid, Syed Mahad Shehzad beat Ayan Khan 4-1, 4-0, Aryaan Hassan beat Zayd Zaman 5-3, 5-3, Muaz beatHuzaima 4-1, 5-3, Rashid Ali Bachanibeat Ali Bachani 4-0, 4-2, Abdur Rehman beat Essa 4-0, 4-0, Razik Sultan beat Faizan 4-0, 4-0 andAalay Hussain beat Zohaib 4-2, 4-2.

In the boys U-12 first round, Hamza Khan beat Ali Yousaf 4-2, 4-2, Ohad-e-Mustafa beat Ehsan Bari 4-0, 4-0, Mustafa Uzair beat M Aziz 4-0, 4-0, Salman Pirzada beat Qazi Ahyan 4-0, 4-0, Romail Shahid beatTimujin 4-0, 4-2, Muaz beat Azan 4-0, 4-0 andAyan beat Mamnoon 4-0, 4-0.