Indians snub ITF event

Published September 29, 2003

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The first leg of the ITF Pakistan International Tennis Tournament suffered a setback on Sunday after six Indians and one home player failed to sign-in.

The main round of the tournament that opens on Monday at the Islamabad Club will now feature seven lucky losers from the qualifying round.

Officials said that Indians Jitin Bishnoi, the fourth seed, Yadya Arjun, Gursher Singh Harika, Izreek Singh Randhawa, Burman Samriddh and Bose Sabyasachi plus Pakistan’s Shahryar Wali did not report.

They now stand to lose points on the circuit for failing to make it for the event which also features players from Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The seven players replacing them in the main draw will be Mahmood Nasir, Abid Ali, Tabish Raza, Masood Arjumand, Chaudhry Zaheer, Masood Sibtain and Ijaz Ahmed.

Meanwhile in the morning, Changez Afridi qualified for the main round with a fine 6-3, 6-4 victory over Nasir Mahmood.

Changez, is a student of prominent coach Mahboob Khan, who has successfully been running a camp at the Islamabad Club for junior players.

“There are several talented players in my camp and Changez is one of them,” said Mahboob, a USPTR qualified coach who has had several coaching stints abroad.

Another player with great potential who advanced was Naumanul Haq who outplayed Tabish Raza with ease 6-3, 6-4. “I played my normal game against him and did not face any problems,” Nauman said.

Nauman Yahya also had it easy in his match against Ahmed bin Zia Shamsi, winning 6-0, 6-1 while Shahryar Ashraf defeated Abid Ali 6-4, 6-0.

As many as 16 matches are to be played on Monday in the boys singles event while there will be four on the girls side.

Results: Changez Afridi bt Nasir Mahmood 6-3, 6-4, Naumanul Haq bt Tabish Raza 6-3, 6-4, Nauman Yahya bt Ahmed bin Zia Shamsi 6- 0, 6-1, Shahryar Ashraf bt Abid Ali 6-4, 6-0.