LAHORE – Triple crowns for Bilal Asim (Sicas), two titles for Abubakar Talha (Wapda) and one each for Haider Ali Rizwan, Ashtafila Arif, Ahtesham Humayun, Zohaib Afzal Malik and Hajra Sohail in the Millat Tractors Junior National Tennis Championship 2022 that concluded here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah on Wednesday.
Bilal Asim, a brilliant student of SICAS, started the medal winning streak by winning the U-18 final, where he played tremendous tennis and thumped talented Haider Ali Rizwan 6-0, 6-3. Bilal then doubled his crowns, when, partnering with Haider Ali Rizwan, overpowered the spirited pair of Farman Shakeel and Hassan Ali 6-3, 6-2 in boys U-18 doubles final. Bilal completed the hat-trick of crowns when he won the boys U-16 final, where he outsmarted his doubles partner, Haider Ali Rizwan, 6-3, 6-0.
The girls U-18 final saw emerging tennis player Ashtafila Arif (Crescent School) struggled hard to tame talented Zahra Suleman 3-6, 7-6, 10-5. After winning the title clash, Ashtafila said: “I am training very hard and aiming high this year. I am keen to win the maximum national title in my age category, Under-18, for which I am very committed and dedicated and hopefully, by the end of this year, I will be on top in this category.”
Abubakar Talha of Wapda first beat Umar Jawad 6-2, 6-3 in the boys/girls U-12 final to lift the first title and then doubled the title tally by winning the boys U-14 doubles final, where he, partnering with talented Zohaib Afzal Malik (SA Gardens), beat the spirited duo of Ameer Mazari and Hamza Ali Rizwan 4-0, 5-4.
The boys U-14 title was clinched by Ahtesham Humayun, who faced a tough fight from fighter Hussnain Ali Rizwan before winning the title clash by 0-6, 6-1, 10-8. The boys/girls U-10 title was claimed by Hajra Suhail (AAA Associates), who outclassed young Mustafa Uzair Rana 4-0, 4-0. The boys/girls U-8 gold was won by Aimen Rehan, silver by Ehsan Bari and bronze by Daniyal Afzal Malik. The boys/girls U-6 gold went to Mamnoon Bari, silver to Yahya Khan and bronze to Aahil Khurram.
Millat Tractors Senior Manager Admin/Purchase Lt Col (retd) Mukhtar Ahmad Bhatti graced the occasion as chief guest and distributed prizes and shields among the winners and runners-up. Other notables present on the occasion were PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), Imran Ayub of Millat Tractors, Naeem Sid from USA, Ashfaq Chohan, players and their families and tennis enthusiasts.
