Sports Bulletin Report
LAHORE: Rizwan brothers, Hussnain Ali Rizwan and Haider Ali Rizwan, Abubakar Talha, and Ahtesham Humayun qualified for the semifinals of the All Pakistan National Invitational Tennis Tournament here at DeSOM Club on Wednesday.
In the boys U-16 quarterfinals, Hussnain Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Roman 6-0, 6-4 while Haider Ali Rizwan beat Hamza Ali Rizwan 6-2, 6-3. In other quarterfinals, Abubakar Talha (F.G School Lahore Cantt) beat M Salaar 6-4, 6-4 while Ahtesham Humayun (Cresent) beat M Talha Khan 6-1, 6-1.
It is worth mentioning here that Hussnain Ali Rizwan, who is a former Asian U-14 No 2 ranked player and only Pakistani, selected in the ITF/ATF Grand Slam Player Development Program to Europe, where he had learned the modern techniques from the top ITF coaches alongside the world’s high ranked players. Now his fellows have progressing well in the ITF and ATF rankings due to their regular participation in the international circuit but due to lack of high-level sponsorship (especially from Bard Foundation), such talented players couldn’t win international laurels for Pakistan.
Same is the case with his elder brother, Haider Ali Rizwan, who was Asian U-16 ranked 1, and was doing well at ATF level, but he too couldn’t maintain his rankings due to less participation in the international events and here too, financial constraints were the major hurdles.
Meanwhile in the men’s singles quarterfinals, Pakistan No 1 player Aqeel Khan beat talented Abdullah Adnan 6-3, 6-0 while Mohammad Shoaib Khan beat Ahmad Nael Qureshi 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, Mudassar Murtaza beat Sami Zeb Khan 6-1, 7-6 and Yousaf Khalil beat Heera Ashiq 7-5, 7-5.
