LAHORE – Bilal Asim (SICAS) and Mahatir Muhammad (Karachi) breezed into the U-18 final of the Bank of Punjab (BoP) Junior National Tennis Championship 2022 here at the PLTA Courts on Tuesday.
In the U-18 first semifinal, Bilal Asim played well against Hashesh Kumar of Karachi and won the encounter with a margin of 6-4, 7-5. The second semifinal saw Mahatir Muhammad defeating Hamid Israr 7-6, 6-1. Bilal also showed his class in the U-16 category, where he outclassed Sameer Zaman 6-1, 6-1 to reach the semifinals. In other U-16 quarterfinals, Haider Ali Rizwan (LGS Paragon) thrashed Taimoor Khan 6-0, 6-0, rising star Asad Zaman outsmarted Abubaker Khalil 6-0, 6-1 and Ahmad Nael outpaced Ahtesham Humayun 7-5, 6-1.
Talking about the progress of emerging star and his brilliant student Bilal Asim, former Davis Cupper and renowned coach Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz) said: “I have been coaching Bilal Asim and working on his aggressive tennis and volleys. Mentally, he is totally a different player now. He will be playing a couple of ITF junior events in next two months.”
It is worth mentioning here that under SBP Head Coach Rashid Malik, many champions have been produced in last few decades and he is committed to his mission of producing more champions for Pakistan and he has vowed that some of his junior students will be playing Junior Grand Slams in coming years.
Noor Malik (Wapda) excelled in ladies singles semifinals, where she outlasted Karachi’s Natalia Zaman 6-4, 6-1 to book berth in the final. Noor Malik said that she is working really hard these days and especially focusing on her fitness, game and skills. “My father, Rashid Malik, also gives me some good tips regarding tennis and health, which help me do well in my category. I am keen to continue hard work and excel further.” In the girls U-18 semifinals, talented Ashtafila Arif brushed aside young Laiba Iqbal 6-0, 6-1.
In the U-12 quarterfinal match, SA Garden’s Zohaib Afzal Malik, a shinning student of LGS Phase V, played superb tennis against Shayan Afridi and never allowed his opponent to play freely, thus winning the encounter 4-2, 4-1. He will now take on Omer Jawad in the semifinals. In U-14 quarterfinal, Zohaib went down fighting against Hamza Ali Rizwan (LGS Paragon). The match went on duce, however, Zohaib lost it 3-6, 2-6.
In the U-10 pre-quarterfinals, Maaz Shahbaz beat Farhan Cheema 4-1, 5-3, Moazam Babar beat Taha Asad 5-3, 4-1, Ayan Shahbaz beat Aezad Siraj 5-3, 4-2, Inam Ali beat Zayed Zaman 3-2 (rtd), Ahsan Bari beat Zainah Abdullah 4-2, 4-1.
