Abubakar, Amir cruise into next round

ISLAMABAD: Abubakar Talha and Amir Mazari won their matches easily in the boys’ singles of the ITF Pakistan Zainab Ali Naqvi Memorial World Juniors Tennis Championship here at the PTF Complex courts Tuesday.

Abubakar Talha overwhelmed Artem Khusanov (UZB) following a close first set 7-6 (3), 6-2 while Amir Mazari prevailed over local lad Shehryar Anees 6-1, 6-3. Besides the two locals, Nadir Mirza also made it to the next round.

A total of 38 boys and 21 girls from 14 countries, including Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Turkey, Japan, China, Austria, Uzbekistan, the UK, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Korea, and Sri Lanka, are participating in the championships.

The championship is being held in the memory of Zainab Ali Naqvi, a talented young tennis player from Karachi who tragically passed away on February 12, 2024, due to a heart attack while participating in an ITF Junior Tournament in Islamabad.

Results: Boys’ singles 2nd round: Abubakar Talha (PAK) bt Artem Khusanov (UZB) 7-6 (3), 6-2; Amir Mazari (PAK) bt Shehryar Anees (PAK) 6-1, 6-3; Nadir Mirza (PAK) bt Yupei Liang(CHN) 6-1, 6-0; Rodion Likashov (KAZ) bt Alexey Ryabov (RUS) 6-2, 2-0(Retd) ; Luke Jie Xio Ho (SGP) bt Diar Amanabek (KAZ) 6-3, 6-0; Takaya Ishi (JPN) bt Mikaeel Ali Baig (PAK) 6-4, 6-0; Haolin Liu (CHN) bt Chris Jovan Gubza (AUT) 6-4, 6-2.

Girls’ singles 2nd round: Alissa Korolyova (KAZ) bt Zohan Feng(CHN) 6-3, 6-0; Nana Okawa (JPN) bt Malika Bolatova(KAZ) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Serife Pelibn Sari (TUR) bt Da Eun Lee (KOR) 6-1, 6-2; Sofiya Malysheva (KAZ) bt Samira Kamalova (UZB) 6-1, 6-0.