Yousaf Khalil, and Mohammad Shoaib overcome Mohammad Abid, and Aqeel Khan in final
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) outclassed WAPDA 2-0 to clinch the title of the 1st PTF Inter-Department Tennis Trophy 2024, which was played at PTF Tennis Complex Garden Avenue Islamabad on Tuesday. SNGPL defeated Pakistan Navy 2-0.
In the first singles of the final, Pakistan Air Force once again took off his flight in a victories style and Yousaf Khalil (PAF) eliminated Mohammad Abid (WAPDA) in a well contested two set match 6-2, 6-4. In the first set Yousaf Khalil played an excellent game from the beginning and did not allow his opponent to settle down by breaking 5th and 7th games of Abid and finished the set at 6-2. In the second set both the players exhibited an excellent game of tennis with the combination of long rallies, and cross-court down the lines, and the score went up to 5-4 in favour of Yousaf with the break of 3rd game of Mohammad Abid. In the 10th game, Yousaf played an attacking game and won the set and match 6-2, 6-4, the match lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes, officiated by ITF White Badge Umpire Husnain Mehmood.
In the second singles, 23 years old Mohammad Shoaib (PAF) upset Pakistan No.1 Aqeel Khan (WAPDA) in an exciting thrilling, see-saw match which lasted over 1 hour 36 minutes 7-5, 6-4 to win the 1st Inter-Department 2024 team competition. Both the players exhibited excellent game of tennis and proved their strength, the score went up to 5-5 games all by holding their own serve, in the crucial 11th game Shoaib returned some marvellous shots and with the combination of cross-court and down-the-line and at the 15-40 grab the game by hitting powerfully down the line return. In the second set, Aqeel Khan tried his best to compete with the pace and speed of Shoaib but was unable to catch him. After breaking the first game of Aqeel Khan, Shoaib continued to accelerate his pace and put pressure on Aqeel Khan till the 9th game of Aqeel in which Aqeel hardly to save the game in which he hit one double fault and 7 duce. In the 10th game, Shoaib hit 2 aces and doubled the pace to run for the victory at 6-4. The match lasted 2 hrs 20 minutes officiated by ITF White Badge Umpire Shahzad Akhtar Alvi.
In the last round of matches, SNGPL comfortably overcame Pakistan Navy. In the first singles Ahmed Babar (SNGPL) proved too good against Faizan Fayyazn Khan (NAVY) and won his match in a straight set 6-2 6-3. In the second match, Saqib Hayat (SNGPL) struggled hard to win his encounter against Asad Zaman (NAVY). Saqib Hayat comfortably pocketed the first set at 6-3 by breaking the 4th game of Asad. In the second sent Asad Zaman changed his strategy and played an excellent game from the baseline, and the score went up to 5-5 games all, in the 12th game Asad got a chance and played superbly and broke the game of Saqib Hyat to level the score 1-1 set all. In the final set, Saqib Hayat came back aggressively the score went up to 4-4 games. Saqib Hayat broke the 9th game of Asad and built up the winning lead 5-4 and then by holding the 10th game finished the set and match 6-3 5-7 6-4. The match lasted 2 hours 10 minutes and was officiated by Asif Ali.
A total of Rs.300,000 was distributed amongst the winner, runner-up, and bronze with the break-up Rs.150,000, Rs.100,000, and Rs.50,000 respectively along with Medals and participation certificates.
Results (Final Day):
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) beat WAPDA (2-0):
Singles-1: Yousaf Khalil (PAF) beat Mohammad Abid (WAPDA) 6-2, 6-4
Singles-2: Mohammad Shoaib (PAF) beat Aqeel Khan (WAPDA) 7-5, 6-4
SNGPL beat NAVY (2-0)
Singles-1: Ahmed Babar (SNGPL) beat Faizan Fayyaz Khan (NAVY) 6-2, 6-3
Singles-2: Saqib Hayat (SNGPL) beat Asad Zaman (NAVY) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
