Abid, Sarah bag SNGPL Tennis titles

ISLAMABAD: Abid Ali Akbar (men) and Sarah Mehboob Khan (women) turned out to be the deserving and worthy winners in the 3rd SNGPL All Pakistan Tennis that concluded at the Plexicushion synthetic tennis courts at PTF Complex, Islamabad.

The finals that were played under floodlights saw Abid Ali Akbar beating inform Ahmed Choudhary in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. While Sarah had to gather all his reserves to beat Sara Mansoor 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

In men’s singles, Ahmed had earlier beaten seeded players to book his place in the final but could not continue his winning spree. Abid displayed good quality tennis and outplayed his opponent to win the match and the title.

In the ladies singles final, second seed Sarah Mahboob beat top seed Sarah Mansoor in a well contested three-set final that lasted for almost three hours. Both players displayed quality tennis but Sarah Mahboob prevailed to bag the title. She looked in excellent form and was seen playing the third set in same vein that was there in the first.

In the Boys under-16 singles final, third seed Faizan Fayaz beat second seed Hamid Israr in another exciting three-set match. In the boys and girls 12 and under singles final, Hamza Roman breezed past Asad in straight sets to win his second title of the event.

More than 200 matches were played in the event and it was the first tournament organized under flood lights on the Plexicushion synthetic tennis courts at PTF Complex, Islamabad. Seven lac rupees prize money was distributed among the participants in different categories of the event.

Senator S. Dilawar Abbas, Chairman SNGPL Board of Director (BoD) was the chief guest. Salim Saifullah Khan, President Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), members of the PTF Management and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

President PTF and the chief guest distributed prizes among the finalists and lauded the efforts of the organizers (SNGPL & PTF) for holding the event in a befitting manner. They also praised the commitment of the players.

The President PTF also appreciated the efforts of the NTC coaching staff in providing high performance training, and expressed his pleasure over the improvement in quality of tennis of the players especially those associated with the NTC. The Tournament referee, Arif Qureshi congratulated the PTF Management for installation of international standard courts lights which will prove beneficial for international tournaments in future as well.

Results: Men’s singles final: Abid Ali Akbar bt Ahmed Choudhary 6-3, 6-4.

Ladies singles final: Sarah Mahboob bt Sara Mansoor: 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.