ISLAMABAD - Ivan Penev/Arya Roghani clinched the ITF Pakistan Junior Tennis Championship 2018-II doubles title after defeating Berk Ulas Enc/Ronan Sahni in the final played here at the Senator Dilawar Abbas PTF Complex on Friday.
The final was a tight affair, as top seeds pair of Ivan/Roghani had to face stiff resistance at the hands of Berk/Sahni, who were not in a mood to go down without a fight. It was relatively easy first set as top seeds took the set 6-1. The real battle started in the second set, which was won by Berk/Sahni 6-3 and they could have easily won the title in the super tie-break, as they had 2-0 lead, but the top seeds pair bounced back in style and won the next 10 points in a row to grab the tie-break 10-2, thus clinched the title.
Nadezhda Khalturina of Russia crowned ladies singles champion as she hammered third seed Turkish Mina Toglukdemir in straight sets. It was no match at all, as the Russian simply outclassed the third seed with her powerful serves, down the line winners and some classy passing shots. Nadezhda won the first set 6-2 and she went on to grab the second 6-1 to land her maiden title on Pakistani soil. It was double delight for the Russian girl, as she also landed the doubles title partnering with Mina Toglukdemir, as the pair thrashed top seeds pair of Meshkatulzahra Safi/Sara Yigin. The champion duo took the first set 6-1 and won the second set 6-2.
Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) President Salim Saifullah graced the occasion as chief guest, while PTF Senior Vice President Khawar Hayat, Col Gul and others were also present on the occasion. Later, the chief guest distributed trophies among the players. The boys’ singles final will be played today (Saturday) at 2pm. It will be repeat of the first ITF Juniors final, as top seed Bulgarian Ivan Penev will take on local hero Huzaifa Abdul Rehman for the title decider.