LAHORE - Noor Malik of ZTBL and Esha Jawaz qualified for the McDonald’s National Ranking Tennis Championship 2019 ladies singles final after defeating their respective opponents here at PLTA courts on Monday.
In the first semifinal of the ladies singles, ZTBL’s Noor Malik was up against Asfa Shahbaz and overpowered her 6-1, 6-0. In the second semifinal, Esha Jawad played well against Zahra Suleman and overwhelmed her 6-0, 6-2.
In the u-18 semifinals, Ahmad Kamil beat Hasheesh Kumar 6-4, 6-1. The u-14 semifinals saw Mahatir Mohammad overpowering Huzaifa Khan 6-3, 6-2 and Shaeel Tahir defeating Bilal Asim 6-4, 6-3. In u-14 doubles semifinals, M Mahatir/Ahtesham Arif beat Asad/Husnain Ali Rizwan 5-3, 4-2 and Shaeel Tahir/Hamza Jawad beat Bilal Asim/Ahmad Nael 2-4, 5-3, 10-8.
In u-12 semifinals, Haider Ali Rizwan tamed his brother Husnain Ali Rizwan 5-3, 2-4, 5-3 while Asad beat Ahtesham Humayun 0-4, 5-3, 2-0 (retd). In u-10 semifinals, Abubakar Talha beat Haniya Minhas 4-0, 2-4, 4-2 while Hamza Ali Rizwan beat Ameer Mazari 4-2, 4-3(5). In men’s singles semifinals, M Abid beat Mian Bilal 6-3, 6-3 while Heera Ashiq beat Ahmad Kamil 6-0, 6-2.
Now in boys singles u-18, Ahmad Kamil will take on M Huzaifa Khan in the final whereas Shaeel Tahir will play against Mahatir Muhammad in u-14 final. In boys u-12 final, Haider Ali Rizwan will vie against Asad while in boys u-10 final, Hamza Ali Rizwan will take on Abubakar Talha. In girls 18 final, Zahra Suleman will face Ashtifila Arif while Abid Mushtaq will compete against Heera Ashiq in men’s singles final. All the finals will be played today (Tuesday).
PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) has said that PLTA is really keen and focused to uplift the women’s tennis. “The girls U-18 singles event is part of McDonald’s championship and we have chalked out a comprehensive plan for the betterment of females through tennis at all age levels.”
Malik said that in consultation with Hamid Niaz, national coordinator for Junior Tennis Program, special efforts will be made to promote competitive tennis in u-10 age group as it will help in finding fresh talent, which, if groomed well under able coaching and guidance, can be an asset for Pakistan tennis.
