Japan beats Pakistan in Asian Junior Tennis finale

Staff Writer

Islamabad: Japan edged out Pakistan in a super tie-break following a thrilling final to win the ITF World Tennis Junior Team Competition Asia/Oceania Qualifying Round in Kuching (Malaysia) this week.

Japan ultimately won 2-1, winning the third set of the crucial doubles on a super-tie break.

In the deciding doubles, which produced exciting tennis, Abubakar and Hamza won the first set 6-4 and were a break up in the second set at 4-3. Two see-saw games saw the Japanese produce quality tennis to take the final into a super tie break. The Japanese pair stepped up a notch in the deciding match-tiebreak and won 10-5 to seal the win and lift the trophy.

In the first singles, Abubakar Talha lost a closely fought match 3-6, 5-7. Hamza Roman then played his best tennis in the entire week to win 6-2, 6-1 and levelled the tie 1-1.

Earlier, after defeating Australia in the quarter-finals, Pakistan beat Hong Kong to make it to the final.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan had already qualified for the World Group by virtue of qualifying for the semi-finals. The youngsters have created history by reaching the World Group of the WJT team event, for the first time since 1996.

Senator Salim Saifullah Khan President-PTF was elated with the performance of the team and said to reach the final is not an easy task, but our team did it due to their hard work and fighting spirit. The President PTF once again congratulated the players and especially commended Captain Heera Ashiq for doing a wonderful job in his first assignment as Pakistan team captain.