Pakistan’s boys’ tennis team has beaten arch-rivals India by 2-1 in the ITF 12&U Team Competition South Asian Qualifying 2021 at the Pakistan Tennis Federation Complex in Islamabad.
A Pakistan Tennis Federation spokesperson said that Pakistan fought back from being 2-6, 0-5 down in the deciding doubles match to win the second set 7-5 before winning the match on tie-break 10-5. The result means that both Pakistan and India have qualified for the next round of competition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in November.
Earlier in the first boys’ singles, Pakistan’s Hamza Roman beat India’s Ojas Mehlawat in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 giving Pakistan a 1-0 lead. In the second match, India’s Aarav Chawla stormed to an impressive 2-6, 0-6 win over Abubakar Talha to tie the team match up.
In the girls’ event, Pakistan crushed Maldives 3-0 to qualify for Kazakhstan along with India. Pakistan’s Zunaisha Noor beat Maldives’ Imani Moosa Kaleem 6-1, 6-2 while Haniya Aman steamrolled Naba Nishan 6-0, 6-1. In the doubles game, Pakistan’s Haniya Aman and Lalarukh Sajid defeated the Naba-Imani pair 7-6(5), 6-2.
Indian Team finished the event unbeaten after comfortably defeating Nepal 3-0.
In his address, Former Federal Secretary and acting PTF President Iftikhar Rashid, welcomed the teams, parents and dignitaries from the embassies of Nepal, Maldives and the Charge de Affairs of the Indian High Commission. Rashid thanked Toyota-Indus Motors for sponsoring the event and the ITF and ATF for their continued support to hold the event. He said that conducting such sporting events can help generate goodwill. Acting PTF President said that sports diplomacy must be prioritized by the neighbouring countries and that the diplomatic corps can play a vital role in this regard.
He also appreciated the media for giving wide publicity to the event and to the Islamabad Police for providing immaculate security to all the participants.
