Sports Bulletin Report
KARACHI: Mikaeel earned double crowns in Dushanbe by winning in both singles and doubles gold medals of the Somoni Open Under-14 Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) tennis tournament that concluded in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
According to an official of the Sindh Tennis Association (STA), Pakistan’s upcoming talented player Mikaeel Ali Baig gets two gold medals and becomes the singles and doubles champion.
In the singles match, Mikaeel had to face top South Korean player Siyun Kim, who he had lost just last week in a tight finals match. Once again, the two faced each other in a finals showdown. The thriller match started with Mikaeel very quickly gaining a strong lead and taking the first set at 6-3.
In the second set, however, Kim stepped up, changed his strategy and got the set from Mikaeel at 6-1. It all came down to the third set. Mikaeel was locked in and ready to take on the battle to the finish line. Kim was no match for Mikaeel’s aggressive game. The third set was over very fast as Mikaeel won at 6-0.
The duo partnership of Mikaeel (Pakistan) and Siyun Kim (South Korea), then had to face of opposing doubles team pair from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the final. The doubles match started off with both teams struggling to take the lead. The first set was tied at 6-6, but the opponents managed to grab the set from Mikaeel and Kim.
Meanwhile, in the second set, the dynamic pairing of Mikaeel and Kim fought back and won the set at 6-4, taking the match into a super tie-break. Mikaeel and Kim played the tie-break strong from the start and won at 10-4 to get their championship win.
