LAHORE-Rizwan brothers – Haider Ali Rizwan and Hussnain Ali Rizwan – clinched the doubles title in the Kamran Steel ATF 16&Under Asian Tennis Tour 2022 (Leg-1) here at the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Tennis Academy Nishtar Park Sports Complex on Friday.
Haider Ali Rizwan, who is among top 5 in Asian Tennis Ranking, and his partner Husnain Ali Rizwan, who is No 2 ATF U-14 ranked, utilized their international experience to edge out Bilal Asim/Ahtesham Humayun – the talented players of ACE Tennis Academy being run by international tennis star Aisam Qureshi – by a score of 2-6, 6-4, 10-7.
The doubles final proved a see-saw battle between top players of the country. Bilal/Ahtesham dominated the first set and overpowered their opponents to take the set 6-2. Rizwan brothers made a good comeback in the second set and won it by 6-4. The third and decisive set proved a nail-biter and after a tough battle, Rizwan brothers held their nerves and won the decider by 10-7, thus clinching the ATF boys U-16 doubles title.
After winning the title, jubilant Rizwan brothers, the brilliant students of LGS Paragon, said: “We are grateful to our coach Muhammad Khalid, who has trained us well and transformed us into international stuff. We are also thankful to our father, who is bearing all the expenses of our ATF events from his own pocket that is helping us improve our game and skills and give better performances in ATF events.”
Rizwan Yousaf, father of Haider and Hussnain, said: “My sons are training very hard under one of the great coaches of the country Muhammad Khalid and also excelling well at Asian level. Hussnain earlier excelled in ATF U-14 rankings and was handed over ITF scholarship to improve his game in the Europe. Haider is also shinning at ATF level and soon, he is going to top ATF U-16 rankings.
“My sons are very talented and can win international laurels for Pakistan, if they get financial assistance from government and corporate giants especially the Bard Foundation. I can’t spend money from my own pocket for a long time so therefore, they direly need sponsorship as they are capable of representing Pakistan in ATF and Grand Slam events,” he asserted.
The position matches were also decided on Thursday. In the match for third/fourth position, Sheheryar Anees beat Hussnain Ali Rizwan 7-5, 6-4, for the fifth/sixth position match, Ahtesham Humayun beat Salaar Khan 6-3, 6-2, for the seventh/eighth position match, Amir Khan Mazari beat Ibrahim Ashraf 6-2, 6-4. For ninth/10th position, Asad Zaman beat Nabeel Qayum 6-1,6-3 while for the 11th/12th position match, Sameer Zaman beat M Sohaan Noor 7-6, 6-1.
Meanwhile in Kamran Steel Punjab Junior Tennis Championship 2022, the competitions were held in different age group categories. In the boys/girls U-14 doubles semifinal, Abdur Rehman/Nabeel Qayum beat Aalay Husnain/Eesa Bilal 6-2, Amna Qayum/Taimoor Ansari beat M Sohaan Noor/Abdullah Pirzada 6-2. In the boys/girls U-10 semifinal, Hajra Suhail beat Ayyan Shahbaz 6-1, Muaz Shahbaz beat Mustafa Uzair Rana 6-0.
Abdullah Khan Sumbal, Chief Secretary Punjab, will be the chief guest at the prize distribution ceremony today (Saturday). Mian Mohsin Arshad, Director Kamran Steel Rerolling Pvt Ltd, Iftikhar Ahmad Rao, Chairman Punjab Lawn Tennis Association, and Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), Secretary Punjab Lawn Tennis Association, will also be present on this occasion.