Junior National Tennis championship: Hamza, Omer book berths in U-14, U-12 finals 

LAHORE — Hamza Ali Rizwan, ranked 6th in ATF rankings, and Omer Jawad on Thursday booked berths in the U-14 and U-12 finals of the Servis Tyres Junior National Tennis Championship being played here at Punjab Tennis Academy Bagh-e-Jinnah.  

In the boys U-14 semifinals, Hamza Ali Rizwan played well against Zohaib Afzal Malik and won the match by 6-2, 6-2 while Omer Jawad had to struggle hard to beat spirited Amir Mazari 6-2, 2-6, 10-7. The U-12 first semifinal was contested between same U-14 opponents – Hamza Ali Rizwan and Zohaib Afzal Malik – but this time, Hamza had to fight very hard to overcome rising star Zohaib by 4-1, 5-3. Omer Jawad this time took little time to brush aside young Abdur Rehman 4-1, 4-1.  

In U-10 semifinals, M Shayyan Afridi outclassed Muaz Shahbaz 4-0, 4-0 to set final clash against Hajra Sohail of AAA Associates and a brilliant student of SICAS, as she thrashed Ayan Shahbaz 4-0, 4-0 in the second semifinal.  

In the U-18 semifinals, emerging star Bilal Asim showed his class against talented Abdul Hanan Khan and overpowered him by 6-1, 6-2 while Mahatir Muhammad from Karachi stamped his authority against Farman Shakeel of Gujranwala, outpacing him by 6-1, 6-1. In the U-18 doubles, Farman/Hassan outsmarted Hamza/Azan 4-1, 4-1.  

In the girls U-18 semifinals, Shiza Sajid beat Ashtafila Arif 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-2 and Amna Ali Qayyum beat Laiba Iqbal 6-0, 6-0. In the girls U-14 semifinals, Amna Ali Qayyum beat Bismil Zia 4-1, 4-1 and Fajjar Fayyaz beat Mahrukh Sajid 5-4(6), 4-0. In the girls U-12 semifinals, Fajjar Fayyaz beat Bismil Zia 4-0, 4-2.  

In the 50 plus doubles, ZTBL’s Rashid Malik/Fayyaz played superb tennis against Kamran/Janan and won the encounter by 6-4, 6-4 while the pair of Arif and Humayun outpaced the duo of Dr Arif and Kamran by 6-3, 6-4. All the finals of the event will be played tomorrow (Friday) followed by a prize distribution ceremony.