ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Huzaifa Abdul Rehman and Korean Dong Hwan Lim set up a title showdown in the ITA-SNGPL ITF Pakistan World Junior Tennis Championship after they both overcame their compatriots in the semi-finals at the S. Dilawar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex here on Thursday.

Second seed Huzaifa romped past Shoaib Khan 6-3, 6-3 with near identical performances in both sets, breaking his opponent in the eighth and ninth games respectively of each set. The unseeded Dong, meanwhile, continued his giant-killing run, cruising past third seed Min-Joon Kim 6-3, 6-1.

The girls’ final, meanwhile, will see a clash between the top two seeds with Turkey’s Aysegul Mert and Russian Arina Valitova both beating Korean opponents in their last-four ties.

Mert won a tight first set against Soo Ha Jang but was imperious in the second as she clinched a 7-5, 6-0 victory while Valitova beat Ji-Woo Choi 6-4, 6-1.

Results:

Boys’ singles (semi-finals): Kim Dong Hwan (South Korea) bt Kim Min-Joon (South Korea) 6-3, 6-1; Huzaifa Abdul Rehman (Pakistan) bt Shoaib Khan (Pakistan) 6-3, 6-3

Girls’ singles (semi-finals): Aysegul Mert (Turkey) bt Soo Ha Jang (South Korea) 7-5, 6-0; Valitova Arina (Russia) bt Choi Ji-Woo (South Korea) 6-4, 6-1.

Boys’ doubles (semi-finals): Soaib Khan and Huzaifa Abdul Rehman (Pakistan) bt Mohammad Nauman Aftab (Pakistan and Erikin Tootoonchi Mobhadam (Iran) 6-2, 6-1; Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Min-Joon (South Korea) bt Luca Emanuel Knese (Germany) and Kavisha Ratnayake (Sri Lanka) 6-3, 6-2.

Girls’ doubles (semi-finals): Aysegul Mert (Turkey) and Arina Valitova (Russia) beat Choi Ji Woo Choi and Soo Ha Jang (South Korea) 1-6, 6-4, 10-7; Mahta Khanlool and Meshkatolzahra Safi (Iran) bt Aliya Abbas (Moldova) and Clemence Thouard (France) 6-1, 6-4.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2019